Specter: Rooting for Norm Coleman

[Brainster]

The newest Democrat steps into a minefield:

"There's still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner."

To call that a political tin ear would be insulting to tin ears. The mind boggles, especially since Franken looks the most likely winner.

I thought when Specter announced his party switch that now he could annoy the crap out of Democrats; my guess is that he won't be doing that for long. What I'd really like to see is Chris Matthews rethink his decision not to run; the lefty bloggers' (who despise both Specter and Matthews) heads would explode.

 

[applecorped]

The plan is working!!!!! Mwah, hah, hah, hah!!!!

 

[Brainster]

Here's the full interview, and while the Times headlines it "Specter Backs Coleman for Senate", it sure seems possible that Specter will be able to claim he was just being puckish:

With your departure from the Republican Party, there are no more Jewish Republicans in the Senate. Do you care about that?
I sure do. There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.

So it's a little bit different in context.

Quite a few of Specter's other answers are clearly tongue-in-cheek:

Did you know Dole in your Kansas days?
No. When I moved to Russell in the eighth grade, he was much older, but in the intervening years I’ve pretty much caught up to him.

I assume this was before he was appearing on television in Viagra commercials.
From reliable sources, he did not need Viagra then.

 

[boloboffin]

In the vein of the OP, some wag on the left suggested that a good time could be had by all in following the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice nominee Anita Hill.

 

[boloboffin]

Oh, my God, Specter went boom all over the place.

The Senate last night stripped Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) of his seniority on committees, a week after the 29-year veteran of the chamber quit the Republican Party to join the Democrats.

In announcing his move across the aisle last week, Specter asserted that Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) had assured him he would retain his seniority in the Senate and on the five committees on which he serves. Specter's tenure ranked him ahead of all but seven Democrats.

Instead, though, on a voice vote last night, the Senate approved a resolution that made Specter the most junior Democrat on four committees for the remainder of this Congress. (He will rank second from last on the fifth, the Special Committee on Aging.) Reid himself read the resolution on the Senate floor, underscoring the reversal.

Maybe now he'll start calling for Franken to be seated.

 

[Brainster]

Oh, my God, Specter went boom all over the place.



Maybe now he'll start calling for Franken to be seated.

Well, it would give him a little more seniority.

 

[Puppycow]

Everybody hates Arlen.

To survive he has to win a primary, right? You can't do a Lieberman in PA, so he has to do something to please democratic primary voters. I assume that he's burned his republican bridge. Unless there's just no realistic democratic alternative, but that's hard to imagine.