Where's Specter's Independent Streak? Now He's Anti-Coleman

I've been a big fan of Sen. Arlen Specter's for a long time - mainly because of his independent streak and seemingly disinterest (well, more than others, anyway) in pandering to his party just because that was the politically correct thing to do. I love politicians who buck their party in order to do what they feel is - well, put simply - the right thing to do.

But this makes me shake my head in disappointment.

Just after Specter left the GOP for the Democratic Party, he gave an interview to New York Times Magazine (due out this Sunday), during which he was asked by interviewer Deborah Solomon: "With your departure from the Republican Party, there are no more Jewish Republicans in the Senate. Do you care about that?"

Specter: "I sure do. There's still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare [Republican] Norm Coleman the winner."

Solomon: "Which seems about as likely at this point as Jerry Seinfeld's joining the Senate."

Specter: "Well, it was about as likely as my becoming a Democrat."

Well, apparently between the time that interview took place and now, Specter has had a change of heart and favors party politics over his desire to have a Jewish colleague on the Hill. He said Tuesday that his comment was a mistake.

"In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates," Specter said, reports CQ Politics. "I'm ordinarily pretty correct in what I say. I've made a career of being precise. I conclusively misspoke. ... I'm looking for more Democratic members. Nothing personal."

That doesn't seem like "misspeaking." It seems more likely his new best Dem friends came to him with the math - Al Franken's win would give Democrats a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority in the Senate - and said "Dude, you cannot say you're supporting Coleman - he's a REPUBLICAN! That's so not cool! You have to support Franken!" What happened to him maintaining some semblance of independence, no matter what he calls himself?

You'd think he'd at least stick to his guns on who he'd like to win Minnesota, especially given that the Dems have knocked him down several ranks to mere freshman status on his committees. On top of this, Specter may have another opponent in his re-election bid next year on top of former Rep. Pat Toomey: former Pennsylvania governor and homeland security secretary, Tom Ridge.

"Governor Ridge is very serious about considering to run, and he is weighing his options," said Bob Asher, the state's Republican national committeeman.

It's no surprise Ridge is trying to get back onto the national political scene. But if he does run, it only makes next year's Senate race even more interesting.