On Tuesday, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) announced he decided to join the Democratic Party.

While he cannot officially change his voter registration in Pennsylvania until May, he began meeting with the democratic caucus in the Senate.

This move was unexpected, but not entirely shocking. Just more than a month ago, Specter said he had no intention of becoming a democrat.

While Specter made statements such as, “I now find my political philosophy more in line with democrats than republicans,” or, “I have found myself increasingly at odds with the republican philosophy,” during his press conference, the real reason behind the switch was obvious: Specter is not ready to leave the Senate.

The senator said so himself. He indicated the decision to change parties came after a campaign poll showed him significantly behind in the Republican primary to the more conservative candidate, Pat Toomey, a former Pennsylvania congressman.

Specter said he wanted his fate to be decided by the entire Pennsylvania electorate, not just the Republican Party primary voters.

It’s nice that he was honest about the reason behind his decision, it may have cost him his seat. Many people, including politicians who have campaigned for Specter in the past, have characterized Specter’s move as “political self-preservation,” which is exactly what it was.

To be fair, Specter did not have many other options. Pennsylvania law prohibits a candidate from switching parties after the primary. If he wanted to run as an independent, he would have to leave the party before the primary. As an independent, he would have an even smaller chance of winning.

While the move may not have been ideal for Specter, it has put the Republican Party in a very nice spot. Some pundits have noted that this adds another democrat to the senate, bringing them one step closer to a filibuster-proof majority; however, these pundits are forgetting that Specter has never been a party-line voter.

Specter said that he is not a guaranteed vote for the democrats’ bills. Already he has evidenced this by voting against President Obama’s budget.

Many Pennsylvania democrats who have campaigned against Specter in the past are not happy with the adoption of Specter as the party’s candidate in 2010 by leaders of the party such as President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

The support of the President, majority leader and governor all but guarantees Specter will win the nomination in 2010 and this is a golden opportunity for the Republican Party.

If Specter wins reelection, he will probably vote with republicans about as often as he has in the past few years, with the exception of a handful of less important bills that he may be pushed into supporting.

While I disagree with some of the reasoning behind his switch, I still respect Senator Specter as somebody who has dedicated his life to this country.

I would rather have him supporting conservative legislation 40 percent of the time instead of having somebody who would only support conservative legislation 10 percent of the time.

E-mail the author: Nathan Inks