More GOP Reaction: Jim Bunning Blames "The Senate Republican Leadership" For Arlen Specter's Change Of Parties. Read More.

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“Well, obviously, we are not happy that Senator Specter has decided to become a Democrat,” McConnell said Tuesday. “He visited with me in my office late yesterday afternoon and told me quite candidly that he’d been informed by his pollster that it would be impossible for him to be re-elected in Pennsylvania as a Republican because he could not win the primary; and he was also informed by his pollster that he could not get elected as an independent, and indicated that he had decided to become a Democrat. What this means, if we are not successful in Minnesota, as you know, is that the Democrats, at least on paper, will have 60 votes.”

Fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Jim Bunning, who like Specter is also facing a tough re-election bid, was more blunt.

“I am disappointed, but not surprised, by Senator Specter’s self-serving decision to switch parties at a time when his vote is so important to maintaining some balance of power here in Washington,” Bunning said. "The Senate Republican leadership’s coddling of Senator Specter shows just how far the Republican Party has lost its way."