Being out of work has its dubious perks. One of which is unfettered access to television. And that is how El Somnambulo came to watch Arlen Specter’s press conference today.
There was a particularly ghoulish and joyless tone to this event. Looking somewhere between feeble and gaunt, Specter called himself ‘full of vim, vigor and vitality.’ His weakening voice and pinched cheeks that looked like they’d just had charcoal black applied to them spoke volumes to the contrary. Forget about political last legs, this guy’s in his last lap. He makes Bill Roth in his final race look full of vim, vigor and vitality in contrast.
While paying the usual lip service to moderates like him having been deserted by the conservative bent of the Republican Party, he was open in admitting that his switch was also caused by his not being ‘willing to let the voters in a Republican primary be the judge and jury on my candidacy’.
He then pronounced himself ‘willing to take on all comers’ in the general election. Pardon ‘bulo if he missed something, but didn’t Specter leave out a step? Is he simply assuming that there will not be a Democratic primary, or is he thinking of ‘pulling a Lieberman’ if he loses in a primary battle?
After watching Specter, the Beast Who Slumbers has no doubt that a vigorous Democratic challenger beats Specter. Here are three who immediately come to mind:
Forgetting about the fact that Specter is a DINO (saur), there’s a very practical reason why Specter should not be the Democratic nominee. ‘Bulo does not believe that there’s any way that Specter can serve out another 6-year term. Fast Eddie Rendell is gone after 2010. Rethug District Atty. Patrick Meehan has a pretty good chance of being elected governor in 2010. Would you want a Rethug governor able to make even a temporary appointment to the Senate? Didn’t think so.