[quote=mike92104]He only switched because he knows he’ll get his ass beat by any other republican in his next race. I hope he loses either way.[/quote]

This is, of course, the GOP party line. But considering how Spector has been treated (and moderate Republicans in general), why would any of them stay? He votes more often with the Democrats than the GOP anyway, so it seems to me that his assertion that he’s switching because the GOP has moved further to the right of where he’s comfortable with seems pretty reasonable.

In any case, given his district, he’s unlikely to lose. His moderate views are the only reason the GOP has held that district. A hard-right conservative would get shellacked in his district.

There’s a reason the only statewide elected GOP officials are moderates in the Northeast (or, for that matter, the West coast). There may be pockets of conservatism up there, so a hard right conservative still has a chance of being elected to the House, but those states, by and large, are pretty socially liberal, and in a statewide election, a hard right conservative is unlikely to win.

Same reason why most southern democrats are socially conservative. The difference appears to be in how the party leadership treats those outside of the mainstream of the party.