I think this is big, not so much because now AS will be a liberal and vote for everything Obama wants, but in that it adds to the perception that the Republican Party has no room for moderates any more.
Specter can now help Obama most by voting for cloture on controversial or close bills. He doesn't have to vote for cap and trade, for example, he just has to vote for ending debate, thereby ending any chance of a filibuster, thereby allowing the D's to pass the bill with a simple majority.
I really doubt we're going to see Specter change position much; he will be a moderate-to-conservative Dem. That breed still exists. The moderate to liberal Republican is almost entirely gone.
Kos and others argue that R's are becoming a regional party that cannot win national elections because they simply are too limited in their appeal. I think it's a little early to call them a "regional" party, after all, one of their most visible idealogues, our lovable Michelle Bachmann, comes from right here in Liberal Minnesota.
But it does again raise the question of the value of "bipartisanship," when the party is so dominated by hard core conservatives that even a moderate like Specter has to out and out leave the party to survive politically. These folks aren't interested in bipartisanship, because that would involved compromise. And compromise is something they just don't do.
Maybe, in a way, that's admirable. But mostly, lately, it's just been good for Democrats.
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