Josh Marshall quips:

“I’m not trying to be ungenerous but at what point do we see Sen. Specter showing up at the next WTO protest with a black t-shirt and a bandana around his head? Maybe he hits Copenhagen.”

I think he’s referring to Specter’s announcement that he can’t support any additional troops in Afghanistan.

Arlen Specter’s startling political transformation over a matter of weeks has, undoubtedly, been amusing to watch. Still, there’s a serious point to be made here. Has Specter always been a closet liberal? Is he still a Republican at heart — and faking his progressivism in order to beat Joe Sestak in the Democratic primary? More importantly, what can we expect from Specter once the primary is over?

After all, it seems rather implausible that a 79 year old man had such a sudden, dramatic change of heart on virtually all of the major political debates before country. Specter, you may recall, adamantly opposed card check legislation and a public plan in health care reform. He has reversed himself on both positions. Moreover, doesn’t it seem a tad unlikely that someone who claims to now have such deeply held progressive principles supported the McCain/Palin ticket one year ago? It’s not unlikely. It’s preposterous — and completely cynical.

Such transformations, however, are nothing new. When former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell switched parties, the moderate Democrat became a down-the-line conservative nearly overnight.  So did Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., who still serves in the Senate. Both won reelection following their party-switches. Thus, one could argue, their constituents thought they made the right call. Still, that ought not to excuse their earlier disingenuousness, and they should all explain these unlikely mid-life epiphanies.

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