Snowe, Collins warn GOP to wake up

I do not see the Republicans losing Senators Snowe and Collins now that Arlen has jumped ship, but they do bring up interesting points regarding the future of the Republican Party. In regard to winning back a majority, Republicans will have to allow moderates to function in their party to win back some approval because not everyone is as committed to the cause as they would like to think. The question becomes how to sway moderates on key votes like the stimulus package and the cap and trade plan for Republicans. Instead of pushing Specter out the door, they could have given him some concessions that would have alleviated his fear of losing the party nomination in the future. Democrats have all but assured him that he will be their candidate and that he will be given every resource he needs to succeed. Rather than threatening members to stay in line, Republicans have to make it appealing to stay in the party and vote accordingly. For Republicans, it is better to have Specter on your side on most issues than to have a Democrat against you on pretty much all issues of significance. Whether or not they start to get the message is up to them, but if they hope to overcome the Democrats in the upcoming elections, a change in approach is necessary.