The Washington Post

pa2010.com is proud to partner with The Washington Post in bringing our originally reported insider political news to a wide audience of decision makers and opinion leaders across the country.

Close it
advertisement
Whiteboard

Adam Schwartzbaum's Blog

Adam Schwartzbaum's Blog

The In-Specter

send to a friend | print | comment

Specter: Voting for McCain-Palin was the right choice

It is interviews like these that make me grimace about Arlen Specter.

Here he is on Hardball earlier this week, telling America that he thought John McCain was a better choice for President, and Sarah Palin better than his “good friend” Joe Biden. Specter tries to distance himself from his own vote by playing it off as a vote of loyalty rather than an intensely personal judgment about what’s best for the country.

But isn’t your vote for President of the United States the most intensely personal vote one makes as a U.S. citizen? Sure, his vote didn’t sway the election, but it does say something about his judgment. There’s no way around the fact that Arlen Specter was prepared to put Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States. It is clips like these that will continue to make Joe Sestak a relevant and credible threat in this Democratic primary.

August 6, 2009 at 8:04 am

--Adam Schwartzbaum

Tags:

comments

comments [2] | post a comment

  1. Brian

    Aug 6th, 2009

    Adam,

    I’m not sure I agree that one’s presidential vote is necessarily “intensely personal” or even at all well-considered (how many people simply vote based on geography or party endorsement?). However, I certainly do agree that Specter’s comments about Palin will seriously cool any Democrat/Independent turnout if he were to win the primary. With Toomey expected to turnout a solid Republican bloc and likely even a few moderate centrists, a primary win for Specter could very well put this Dem seat in peril.

    Of course, I realize that we’re still more than a year out from the 2010 election and that there are so many other factors to consider as well (fund-raising, the economy, EFCA, etc.). But Specter’s endorsement of someone considered rather ridiculous by those he’ll need to rely on after a Dem primary win is certainly a biggie.

  2. PA-Sen: As Specter Moves Left, Toomey Makes Gains in General | The Daily Horse Race

    Dec 21st, 2009

    [...] over a year ago, Arlen Specter was campaigning for the Presidential ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin as a Republican Senator of Pennsylvania. Of [...]

Leave a Reply


- will not be published


pa2010.com blogs