Via Bloomberg:

Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- At a Tuesday reception for moderate Republicans, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter hushed the cocktail chatter when he began ticking off a long list of like- minded [liberal] lawmakers who no longer hold office.

 

``Today, we're in a phone booth,'' Specter said.

 

To conservatives at the Republican National Convention this week, John McCain's choice of running mate Sarah Palin represented recognition of their clout. For remnants of the party's once-powerful Eastern Establishment, the Minnesota meeting signified a lost opportunity to prod their party toward the political center...

 

``There was shock'' over Palin's selection, said Jennifer Stockman, co-chairwoman of Republican Majority for Choice. ``We were looking for someone who would be transformative and take control of the party away from the social conservatives.''

 

Addressing the pro-choice group, Specter slammed anti-tax crusaders who tried to unseat him four years ago, and criticized a Republican platform that would ban abortions in all circumstances, including rape, incest, or pregnancies that threaten a mother's life...

 

Specter, a 28-year Senate veteran, is the product of a once-dominant faction of East Coast moderates that produced such presidential candidates as Thomas E. Dewey and Dwight Eisenhower. That old party establishment has been in retreat since the rise of Sun Belt conservatives like Richard Nixon [?-ed.], Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush [??-ed.].

As Michelle Malkin put it : "You lose."