Specter Defects, Republican Party Obit

Michael O'Brien mourns on The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:

Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to switch parties and run for reelection as a Democrat foreshadows a Republican landslide in midterm elections, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) argued Wednesday.

"This is the first visible evidence that what happened in 1993 is happening again now," Inhofe said during an appearance on Fox News, arguing that the 2010 midterm elections will mirror the 1994 elections in which Republicans made major gains.

Inhofe said that voters' turn against President Clinton's initiatives on healthcare and the military in 1994 would see history repeat itself in 2010, with voters again turning against the Obama administration's priorities. He cited Specter and Republican candidate Pat Toomey as evidence.

"The guy that ran against him and was defeated by Arlen Specter six years ago now is so far ahead of him that Arlen Specter's own adviser said there's no way that you can win this thing unless you change to the Democratic Party," Inhofe explained. "Now, to me, that's the evidence it's coming."

Inhofe said he doesn't buy analysis by conservative pundit Fred Barnes, who's argued that 2010 will see Republicans receive another drubbing at the polls. If anything, Inhofe argued, Democrats' having 60 votes in the Senate will only intensify voters' desire to unseat Democrats in the midterm elections.

Or maybe, Specter's flight was the application of a defibrillator on a party's gutless heart... Charging... Clear... ZZZap!