This is big news on all the blogs, feeds, twitters, and morning telegrams. Frankly, I’m not surprised.

My lack of amazement is not from some inside knowledge I have of discussions leading to his move, but knowledge of a system where there are hardly enough differences between either party to make a sudden switch difficult. It’s like he switched from Coke to Pepsi. Why so shocked?

Specter had acknowledged that his re-election as a Republican in 2010 would be unlikely since thousands of Pennsylvanians became Democrats last year to vote for Obama. So if a senior Republican senator can also switch over to improve his chances of winning re-election, doesn’t that speak more on the failure of the Democratic Party for not having enough distance from the Right than it speaks of their triumph in gaining a new member?

Specter stated, “I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.” Specter didn’t suddenly move Left to fit the party, the party gradually moved Right to fit him. The chasm which would normally have prevented this sudden move has disappeared. Now it’s simply a matter of putting on a different jersey.

American politics are played like professional sports; not just in the fact that they’re both funded by your tax dollars to divide the populace into waring factions, but in the fact that “winning” is the entire game. There is no grand vision either team is fighting for. No team less beholden to their corporate owners or advertising sponsors. Winning is the be all end all. It gives you more bargaining power to collect more money. And so while spectators who live vicariously through the winnings of their team are currently feeling either a sense of abandonment or accomplishment in the fact that this player is being traded - self-preservation has always been the name of the game.

Just like professional sports, Americans will sit back, spend more money, cheer for their side of the false dichotomy, and not get involved themselves.