Bye, Arlen

No tears here. He was a Republican for 40 years who switched parties, not out of ideology, but to hang onto his job.

Didn't work out so well for him.

Other politicians switch parties and survive, but they either do it for ideological reasons (like all of the segregationist Democrats who became Republicans in the 1960s) or they at least lie about it. Specter was almost unique in admitting he did it solely to stay in office. The Democrats regarded him as being as loyal an ally as the Italians were in both world wars.