Christine M. Flowers: Sen. Weather Vane

THERE are two schools of thought about Arlen Specter's defection (or rather, homecoming) to the Democrats.

The first is that he was so desperate to keep his spot in Congress, so incapable of hearing his name without the honorific "Sen." before it, that he jumped ship to avoid being destroyed in the GOP primary.

That's probably true.

The other is that he no longer felt at home in a party that had become increasingly conservative, rejecting his views on abortion, stem-cell research and trillion-dollar budgets, etc.

That's also probably true.

And guess what? The party is better off without him.

Specter is a weather vane, yielding to the strongest political wind. While he considers himself a "maverick" like his friend John McCain, the truth is that our senior senator is an opportunist.

Or, in his lexicon, a "moderate."

Moderates say they're for limited government spending, but then cast tie-breaker votes for trillion-dollar budgets.

Or think that subsidizing people who bought houses they couldn't afford is the right thing to do, even if those who lived within their means have to pay the bill...