Holding Specter to the light
Lots about 5-term senator this weekend.
After a career that's taken him through two parties, five terms, 30 years and thousands of votes, it was inevitable that the story of this Senate election would be all about Arlen.
What would have been harder to predict was the variety of Arlens it's been about -- the morphing Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-Democrat persona of Arlen Specter's own career shifts arrayed against the varied caricatures projected by a quartet of rivals.
Specter’s run for a sixth term is almost sure to hinge, once again, on his record: Voters on the political right, on the left and in the middle are holding it up to the light to try to decide whether a man who prides himself on his independent streak — and his ability to infuriate either side of the political spectrum — is acceptable enough to support.
Here's The Hill: "Despite vowing independence when he switched parties on April 28 of last year, Specter has become a model Democratic senator."