Sen. Arlen Specter's declaration
that he is a Democrat -- the first honest thing Specter has said
in years -- is mourned by
Philip Klein as a "huge blow." To use the word "blow" in such
close proximity to the word "Specter" is a dreadful temptation to
double-entendre I am compelled to resist.
Back in February, after Specter brokered an
unprincipled compromise over the "stimulus," I
noted the fundamental dishonesty of his rhetoric:
Announcing the compromise Friday evening, Sen. Arlen Specter of
Pennsylvania said: "I think no one could argue with the fact
that the situation would be much worse without this
bill."
Really, Senator? "No one could argue"? Many certainly
will argue with you, especially with your apparent assumption
that "this bill" is the only possible response to the current
economic crisis, and that we must either pass "this bill" or
suffer the catastrophe about which the president has so direly
warned.
Like his ideological soulmate, Sen. John McCain (who lost
the election because of his support for the Bush bailout)
Specter's reputation for bipartisan moderation was always a
function of his vain desire to be perceived as a "public
servant." After nearly three decades
of unconscionable pandering to liberals, cravenly
shifting with the prevailing winds, Specter will be less useful
to the Democrats now than he ever was when he had an "R" beside
his name.
