Sen. Specter on CNN yesterday:
“Look here, I had a clear shot at re-election. If I had stayed with the obstructionist Republican caucus, I would have been re-elected easily, especially in an out-year when the party out of power is favored.”
If you’re confused, you’re not alone. This contrasts very sharply with what Specter said when he left the GOP in April 2009:
“In the course of the last several months … I have traveled the state and surveyed the sentiments of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania and public opinion polls, observed other public opinion polls and have found that the prospects for winning a Republican primary are bleak.”
To be fair, I think Specter’s statement yesterday was meant to imply that, had he not voted for the stimulus package on February 9, 2009 (it received 61 votes for cloture, including his and Olympia Snowe’s), he would not have faced a tough primary because Toomey would have opted instead to run for governor.
But I’m still aghast at the idea that Specter thinks he’s some kind of martyr for his stimulus vote. At the time, Obama was wildly popular, Democrats were riding high, and opposition to the stimulus was not a popular position.
Moreover, the stimulus has been widely perceived as a failure. I understand that Specter wants to point to it as a Democratic bona fide, I don’t think he’ll be talking about it much after tomorrow if he wins his primary.
