Lexington: Party-hopping

摘要

This week was always going to be a gloomy one for the Republicans, with Barack Obama celebrating his first 100 days in office and the media singing "hallelujah". But the mood got a lot gloomier on April 28th when one of the most senior Republicans in the Senate announced that he was switching parties. Arlen Specter's statement could not have been better timed from the White House's point of view. Just as Obama was about to hit the 100-day milestone, the press was suddenly obsessed by the spread of swine flu. Mr Specter's party-hopping not only shifted the spotlight back onto politics.