Rim Shot

Wow, Arlen Specter is crass and opportunistic, even for a politician. His own words, reported by the New York Times:

At a news conference this afternoon, Senator Arlen Specter said that he switched to the Democratic Party because his prospects for re-election next year as a Republican were “bleak” and he didn’t want to leave his fate in the hands of the conservative Pennsylvania Republican electorate.

(He released his decision in a statement earlier today that stunned Republicans and Democrats alike, and positioned the majority to get ever closer to the magic number of 60 votes needed to Senate avert filibusters.)

“I’m not prepared to have my 29-year record in the United States Senate decided by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate, not prepared to have that record decided by that jury,” he declared in a rather defiant tone at the conference.

“Rather defiant?” Can you imagine how the press would treat this guy if he were a Republican?