Washington -Even before Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched to the Democratic side, Republican leaders were warning that their national party was in danger of becoming a regional one.
Specter's departure, part of a larger Republican shift away from the Northeast, has left a hole on the political map. For the first time since the founding of the Republican Party in the 1850s, there is not a single Republican senator from Maryland or any of the four states that border it.
That development puts new emphasis on a question confronting Maryland Republicans: If the Republican Party is becoming a regional party, is Maryland part of that territory?
The answer appears to be: Yes, but just barely.
This year, for the first time in decades, Maryland is left with only a single Republican congressman in Washington. And with a national debate stirring about how to reinvigorate the party, there are few signs that Republicans in the state have developed a plan for turning things around.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the top elected Republican in the country, said earlier this year that his party "seems to be slipping into a position of being more of a regional party than a national one."
Specter's switch and the recent failure to pick up a historically Republican House seat in a special election in upstate New York are the latest examples of a trend that has obliterated Republican representation in the mid-Atlantic and up the East Coast.
At a news conference announcing his decision to rejoin the Democratic Party, the veteran senator pointed to a pivotal Maryland contest last year when asked whether he felt that Republicans had pushed him out.
"Republicans didn't rally to Wayne Gilchrest in Maryland. He was beaten by the Club for Growth and the far right," Specter replied. "They lost the general election."
With the loss of Gilchrest's seat, the state's lone Republican at the national level is 82-year-old Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of Frederick.
The defeat of moderates like Gilchrest, often in party primaries, has contributed to the dwindling number of northern Republicans in Congress. In the 10 states from Maryland through New England, just 10 Republicans remain out of a total of 73 House seats.
Gilchrest, in an interview, said he had given consideration to switching parties but decided that it wouldn't have been worth the effort unless he planned to remain in office for another decade.
