SUNDAY NEWS

In his Ides of March column "Specter should switch sides", Gil Smart opines "Were [Senator Arlen Specter] to switch parties and run as a Democrat, he would likely destroy Toomey, or anyone else, in the general election. One suspects Specter would get more than a little satisfaction from that."

WATCHDOG: Specter switched from Democrat to Republican in 1965 in order to run successfully for district attorney in Philadelphia. After publisher Robert Field, as Specter's state wide finance chair, accompanied an aide of Senator Howard Baker to meet with several prominent Philadelphia Republicans, Rob Mossbacher inquired rhetorically "Doesn't anybody like the son-of-a-bitch?" Specter was sold to the Republicans on the simple premise that "Howard Baker needs Arlen to have enough votes to organize the Senate." Their check books opened if not their hearts.

To say that Specter was an opportunist during the early decades of his Senate career would be no overstatement. As a young ssenator, he could seldom pass up an a chance to get in front of a television camera. He was not held in high esteem by many colleagues.

To gain attention, he sponsored Draconian laws concerning illicit drugs that have plagued the judiciary and the country, which he has come to regret.

But time changes us physically as well as our outlook. Specter matured and, except for an unsuccessful testing of the early presidential primaries in 2000 as a moderate, he focused on Senate business and important sub-committee and eventually committee chairmanships. And before and after George W. Bush's ascendency, he leaned to the middle.

Specter did shift to the right when W. was elected / selected in 2000. Specter was too driven by personal ambition to have risked defeat in the 2004 primary. Only with the earned blessing of the then president was he able to squeak through. Liberals might say that, to Specter, re-election was more important than beliefs.

Yet, it seems improbable that Specter would be willing to again suffer the scorn resulting from switching political parties. Better to be a retired five time senator (be it by choice or the will of your constituents) than be perceived as a traitor by Republicans who have supported you and being the new guy in a caucus of younger and more senior Democrat senators.

Yes switching is a possibility, and perhaps the implicit threat is a card to play in order to get Pat Toomey out of the Republican primary race. But we don't see a change in parties happening.