On his radio program Tuesday, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh celebrated Specter's departure and joked that he should have taken Arizona Sen. John McCain and his daughter, Meghan, with him.
"We're weeding out people who aren't really Republicans," Limbaugh said.
Since last year's presidential campaign, Meghan McCain has become a growing voice for young Republicans who would like to see the party chart a new course. Her Twitter page has 31,000 followers.
"In my Republican Party there is room for everyone," she wrote Tuesday. "I am not saying to Christian conservatives, 'There is no place for you.' I am saying, 'Please stop saying there is no place for us.' "
For most Senate Republicans, life after Specter's announcement wasn't all that different Wednesday as they, along with House colleagues, voted en masse against a congressional budget resolution that pledged new investments in healthcare and education.
Specter, who technically is a Republican until he submits new voter registration forms, also voted against it.
The budget vote is likely to provide fodder for critics who say the GOP has allowed itself to be characterized as a purely oppositional force that offers no new ideas.
Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters that Specter's move wouldn't greatly alter the dynamic of the Senate despite putting Democrats closer to a filibuster-proof majority of 60 senators.
"I can't see that it's going to make a great deal of difference, because he was not a dependable Republican when we needed him," Grassley said.
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joliphant@latimes.com
