In Wednesday’s debate, former Pennsylvania Senator and former Republican turncoat Arlen Specter became a prominent issue of contention. Mitt Romney attacked Rick Santorum for his support of Specter in 2004. Santorum said that he supported Specter because Specter had agreed to support the Bush judicial nominees – a suspicious conversation considering Specter’s pusillanimous behavior during the Reagan-era hearings over Judge Robert Bork.
According to Arlen Specter today on CNN, the conversation never happened.
Here’s the transcript in relevant part:
I made no promise about supporting anybody. I wouldn’t do it. It would be wrong to make a promise in advance of knowing who the nominee was and what the qualifications were. There was never any discussion at all between Senator Santorum and me about support. It was just assumed that he would support me like I had supported him when he had a very tough election back in 1994.
Why did Santorum lie about such a conversation? Specter suggested that such a lie would now be “politically expedient” – which is clearly true. So either Santorum is lying or Specter is. I’d put my money on Specter – not because he’s trustworthy, but because it would be out of character for him to pledge unconditional support to Bush Supreme Court nominees.
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