Specter blames Club for Growth for GOP’s demise, says there should be a party ‘rebellion’

At a news conference explaining his decision to switch to the Democratic Party, Senator Arlen Specter ticked off a list of moderate Republicans who were targeted by the conservative Club for Growth and later lost in the general election.

Citing Maryland’s Wayne Gilchrest, Michigan’s Joe Schwartz and New Mexico’s Heather Wilson, among others, Specter made the argument that the GOP’s conservative wing had made it impossible to hold seats. Fingering the Club For Growth in particular was a jab and his now-former primary opponent, Pat Toomey, who used to head the anti-tax organization.

“They don’t make any bones about their willingness to lose the general election, if they can purify the party,” Specter said.

“For the people who are Republicans,” he added, “to sit by and continue to let them dominate the party … they’re ought to be a rebellion, they’re ought to be an uprising.”

Video here.