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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Arlen Specter -- portrait of the opportunist as an old man

It is unfortunate that Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter did not have it in him to be true to his principles (or at least to those principles that he claimed to have). For the last two months, Specter stated repeatedly how important it was for the Republicans to maintain their 41 votes in the Senate so as to avoid total one-party control in Washington. Now, like gilda Radner's old character Emily Litella, he just says "Nevermid!" What an idiot! In an effort to keep his seat at all costs, he has just guaranteed that he cannot be re-elected. The people of Pennsylvania already had a low opinion of Arlen (55% disapproval ratings in the latest polls) Now he has given them another taste of Arlen the self-important. No one could deny the naked selfishness and egotism of this latest move. It reveals all his prior pronouncements on the the topic to have been phony posturing. Indeed, Specter could not even bring himself to describe his move as one based on principle. No, he himself characterized it as one that could allow himself to be re-elected. But why should anyone want him re-elected? He stands for nothing anymore. Indeed, no one could even know what he would do in another term. And it would not matter if he were to tell us his plans, since no one could believe him anyway.

Let's hope that Specter ride off into the sunset soon.

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