Let's see -- Arlen Specter is a Democrat who ran jumped ship to the GOP early in his career because it was the only way for him to get elected to public office. He recently jumped ship back to the Democrats (after decades as a Republican) when it became apparent that he was going to lose the GOP primary to someone who more closely represented the GOP platform. In other words, opportunistic party-switching is one of the defining characteristics of Specter's career.

So of course, having just switched to the Democrat Party this year so he can run for office as a Democrat, he is now accusing his opponent of having become a Democrat in 2006 just so he could run for office as a Democrat!

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter called his fellow Democrat, Rep. Joe Sestak, a "flagrant hypocrite" and accused his rival of registering as a Democrat "just in time to run for Congress."

Sestak has said that he will challenge Specter, who has the backing of President Obama and party leaders, for the Democratic Senate nomination next year. Specter, a longtime Republican, switched his party registration to Democrat this year.

On Thursday, Specter's campaign sought to bring into question Sestak's roots to the Democratic Party. Specter's campaign sent out a list of Sestak's voting history in Delaware County, which the senator's campaign said showed that Sestak registered as an Independent in 1971, didn't vote in any primary elections from 1971-2005 and that he officially registered as a Democrat in February of 2006. Sestak was elected as a Democrat to the House in 2006.

Sestak's response? That as a military officer he remained a registered independent because he believes that military officers should not be a member of any political party. Having grown up on military bases as the son of a military officer, I've a number of officers who took precisely that position and acted upon it. It is a position I find principled and admirable, even if I would argue that voting in a primary does not undermine the non-artisan nature of the military. I'm therefore not offended at all by Sestak's voter registration history.

I am, on the other hand, quite offended by Specter's hypocrisy in accusing ANYONE of manipulating party registration just to find a convenient banner under which to seek office.

Posted by: Greg at 04:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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