Psych! Specter Backs Away from Coleman

[jefferson_dem]

Specter Backs Away from Coleman

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) reversed himself from comments he made in an interview in which he said he wanted Norm Coleman (R) to prevail in the disputed Minnesota Senate race against Al Franken (D), CQ Politics reports.

Said Specter: "In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates. I'm ordinarily pretty correct in what I say. I've made a career of being precise. I conclusively misspoke."

Asked who he's backing now in elections, Specter said, "I'm looking for more Democratic members. Nothing personal."

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/05/05/specter_backs_away_from_coleman_comments.html

[MadBadger]

1. That comment just left me confused.

[roguevalley]

33. what a sorry remark. I forgot what side I'm on now. He hasn't changed

anything. He is what he is and he wants Norm seated. Fuck Arlen Specter.

[Arkana]

2. That's not "It was a joke."

[Diamonique]

19. I never thought he was joking in the first place.

I can understand what he's saying now, though. He's been a Republican for so long, he forgot to flip the switch when he answered that question. The Republican in him wanted Coleman to be seated. Old habits die hard.

[LiberalFighter]

49. He needs a brain operation to locate that Republican bug and snip it out.

[Duer 157099]

3. Wait wait wait! You mean, he meant to say Frankin, but misspoke?

I sure as hell hope that's what he means. I can understand that too.

Fuckin' eh

[BzaDem]

4. Guess it wasn't a joke. n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. In other words...

"Oh, hell; I forgot I'm supposed to be a Democrat now. So, uh, I guess I really want what's-his-name, er, Franken, is that it? Yeah, that's it. I really want Franken to be seated. Really."

Watta doosh...

[CakeGrrl]

6. Oh Lord..."I forgot I'm a Democrat! Yeah, I want the Democrat to be seated."

Yeah. THAT'S the ticket.

Oy.

I hope Joe doesn't have cause for buyer's remorse after all his work.

:crazy:

[Cha]

10. It could happen..

:crazy::rofl:

[babylonsister]

7. So it wasn't 'just a joke'. What a hypocritical, no personality,

pos.

[NYC_SKP]

8. Punked! This was Joke #2 for the day.

So, he "misspoke".... But which time did he misspeak?!!!

Was he punkin' us then, or pullin our leg now?

BWAAAHAHA!!!

[Clio the Leo]

9. Who is that keeps joking about shirts v. skins?

Maybe that would help Mr. Specter. I'm sure it gets confusing. :)

[xchrom]

11. 'LOL -- dude -- d'uh - my bad.'

:eyes:

[Ocracoker16]

12. I don't know that I buy this

When you are a senator, you interact with members of the other party. He knows that Norm Coleman is a Republican. Could he quite jacking everyone around like this?

[cboy4]

13. This is like leaving the KKK, throwing around

the N-word, and then justifying it by saying, ooops, I have get used to the coloreds. :eyes:

He's clearly looking for a chairmanship as opposed to hoping Al Franken is sworn in.

[eleny]

14. I wonder who grabbed his ear and gave it a twist?

Whoever it was - Thank you, thank you very much.

[DrToast]

16. And....

Whoever it was - Thank you, thank you very much.

And don't let go.

[eleny]

28. LOL!

[Arkana]

22. Either Durbin or Rahmbo.

Reid's got no spine, so it wasn't him.

Or maybe Biden kicked his ass.

[leftstreet]

15. Jeebus. Has he been tested for dementia etc?

Seriously

[Phred42]

17. Ok now I get it - he’s gone senile

[BlooInBloo]

18. Liar.

[DearAbby]

20. Cell phone rings

:::Ring tone Ronald Reagan saying:::"The most frightening words in the English language..."Hi, I am from the government and I am here to help"

Arlen: mmm..hello?
Obama: Say Arlen how are you?
Arlen: Who is this?
Obama: It's me President Obama
Arlen: Good Morning Mr President.
Obama: Say Arlen, what's this about wanting Coleman to win the seat in Minnesota?
Arlen: Well sir, it's like this.. I really said 'I wanted Mr. Franken to win the seat' But when the
words came out they made these weird moves, sort of like the magic bullet theory I had nearly
a half century ago...I said I wanted Mr Franken to win, and the press heard the opposite.
Obama: Arlen, you really don't think I would believe that do you?
Arlen: ahhhh no sir, I had misspoke, in the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to
get used to my new teammates...is that better sir?
Obama: Much, and thanks. Say Arlen how about coming with me and the guys for lunch?
Arlen: You mean in public sir?

[mvd]

32. LOL

Good one.

[AlinPA]

21. Now he doesn't know what caucus he is in.

[billyoc]

24. Neither do we.

[AlinPA]

27. lol. I love this place.

[Laelth]

23. Much better. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[TheDebbieDee]

25. Didn't Specter win a DC joke-telling contest a few years ago?

I'll go Google for that, but in the meantime, I think he was joking.

How about this? http://wonkette.com/312547/arlen-specter-tells-boner-jokes

Or this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIFJygPvsTg

[stevenleser]

30. I thought MY joke telling was bad. Yikes

Awful. Just awful

[Kingofalldems]

26. And the Blue Dogs love this guy

[Faygo Kid]

29. He'll be 80 in 2010. Maybe that's part of it, but he's not our candidate.

Whatever, he's not our guy, or anybody's guy, in 2010.

He won't make it. Start looking elsewhere, now.

[mvd]

31. Covering his tracks?

[vaberella]

34. So for all who said he was joking...I guess Ried was right..he WASN'T joking.

This guy is a joke in and of himself.

[stevenleser]

35. Even calling him a joke may be too generous...

... he is a moran.

[mvd]

36. I give you credit - you weren't swayed

I never heard the audio, but I trusted what I saw later.. my first instinct was right.

[vaberella]

37. What's "I give you credit - you weren't swayed", supposed to mean? n/t

[mvd]

38. You never thought it was a joke

:hi:

[stevenleser]

52. I didn't either

I must have read the complete statement around 25 times to see where the joke was. I never found it.

[mvd]

55. When I heard the Seinfeld part, and updates to the article, I thought..

"well, it makes sense that it's a joke." But I kept thinking that it sounded serious. Also, Arlen's office didn't return requests for comment - must have been devising a way to recover.

[vaberella]

57. I wasn't sure what it meant. I'm at this point waiting on gathering info before making a decision.

n/t

[badgerpup]

39. Thought he switched to Democrat ...

...because he thought he had a shot at re-election that way.

"I hope the Minnesota courts will do justice and seat Norm Coleman"
:dunce:

Newsflash: Stating a wish that a member of the opposing party will be seated instead of a member of the party to which you now supposedly belong...NOT a good idea.

The courts, in their 'justice' have decided right down the line in favor of Al Franken.

Specter's comment is disturbing for another reason.
It is indicitive of either at least a partial disconnect with Reality :crazy:...or the Republican tendency to just make shit up in ignorance or defiance of said Reality (a la' Michelle Bachmann, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, et al, ad nauseum, ad infinitum)
:dunce:


That isn't going to go over well with the Democratic voters whom he hopes to bamboozle convince to vote for him...in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if he hasn't just shot himself in the foot for 2010 right here.
:nopity:

[firedupdem]

40. I'm wondering if he needs to see a doctor. I get a dementia vibe

from this guy. I don't think he's all there.

[nilram]

41. To coin a phrase: Flippity-Floppity

Floop-da-fleepity-flap-flop.

[cooolandrew]

42. Good for Sepecter maybe he has genuinely found his conscience, this is making right with God who >

wouldn't endorse the message of hate, by all accounts. Looks like there's hope yet.

[ejpoeta]

43. is this guy just a blatant idiot!! i mean, wtf! so basically, he is openly

saying that his ideas and thoughts are not based on any ideals, but on what letter is next to his name? and yet, he is not going to tow the party line for the dems, either. coleman was a senator. specter knew darn well coleman was republican senator. but he 'mispoke'? ugghh!! please let him lose the primary, though the msm keep telling me how popular specter is with the dems in pa.

[Vinca]

44. The song is changing since Dems voted not to give him

seniority on committees. They need to hold health care over his head, too.

[freddie mertz]

45. The Washington Dems need to build a wall around this idiot...

Then lose the key and leave him there.

What a fiasco!

[Orsino]

46. "I conclusively misspoke."

"And stand ready to flip-flop."

[Froward69]

47. "Quote me

as being misquoted."~~ Groucho Marx :eyes:

[Bluenorthwest]

48. A joke is obvious...this was not a joke

Specter does not seem to be all there anymore.

[ShortnFiery]

56. I'm concerned about possible dementia also.

I don't say this lightly but Specter is NOT right mentally. Perhaps small strokes or dementia? He should be fully and medically checked out before the primaries. I'm hoping that he chooses to retire (It's TIME!) and Joe Sestak can run for OUR side.

[Renew Deal]

50. This comment is actually worse than the original joke.

He should have said that he was making a joke and was taken out of context. This sounds like he's pandering to his new masters.

[olegramps]

51. He is a "useful idiot.

Use him and then chuck him out in the primaries. I wouldn't be in the least surpised to then watch him trying to crawl back into the fold of the Republcian cult.

[beac]

53. Seriously?? The "I'm a confused old man" card?????

Yeah, that'll impress the primary voters.

Arlen Simpson 2010!

[stevenleser]

54. He forgot Rule #1 in politics. "When you are in a hole, stop digging"

He keeps making it worse.