U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter paid another $17,178 in legal fees to Blank Rome last quarter in connection with a Federal Election Commission audit of his 2004 campaign.
That brings his total legal bill to above $100,000 as the campaign negotiates a settlement over the audit the FEC completed last year. Chances are Specter's campaign is in for a hefty fine.
Arlen Specter has a lot of troubles. Go to sightsonpennsylvania.blogspot.com to see two articles. One demonstrates he is a top target by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee even though he voted FOR the stimulus package. The other concerns his confrontation with Laura Ingraham. He makes the statement that he doesn't wine and dine. However, Dick Durbin rats him out about a Super Bowl party at the White House. He is going to have a rough go of it in the 2010 primary.
On being a DSCC target - voting for the stimulus doesn't get him a "get out of the next election free" card. There is politics and there is governing; they're related, but they're not the same. Isn't it reasonable to think that Sen. Specter voted for the stimulus because he thought it was good for Pennsylvanians?
I fear I have become so cynical about Mr. Specter that I doubt he does anything unless it benefits him in some fashion. He has cultivated this reputation as a "moderate" but his voting record does not support that reputation. He is an opportunist. Period.