Dick Polman marked the kick off of Senator Arlen Specter’s re-election campaign with an observation of Specter’s first attempts to make his sexennial crawl to the right of the political spectrum.

Every six years at about this time, Specter sees his upcoming primary challenge ahead and starts to build a cache of rightwing positions that will put him back into the good graces of the conservative wing of his party.   By this point the GOP is pretty much all right wing in Pennsylvania which means two things: (1) it can only fly in circles and (2) moderate Republicans are not welcome.

Polman says that Specter’s recent assurances that he’ll give Obama Attorney General-designate Eric Holder a rough confirmation hearing are his way of saying:

“I’m up for re-election in less than two years, which means it’s time for me to suck up to the right wing of my party. I’ve long had a reputation as a moderate Republican, but moderate Republicans are an endangered species, especially in the Northeast; basically, the only ones left in the Senate are me and the two ladies from Maine. The right-wing Pennsylvania voters almost booted me out four years ago - I barely survived the party primary that April, beating conservative Pat Toomey by only 1.6 percent - and those voters would love to get me in the 2010 party primary. So this means I’ve gotta start sucking up to them, prove to them that I can be tough on Obama, and play the obstructionist when necessary. Better start now.”

After the primary, when he’s no longer at the mercy of the NRA, pro-lifers and vehement anti-tax advocates, Specter, somehow, makes his way back to the center, feeding Pennsylvania voters ads with his support for the homeless or stem cells (starring Michael J. Fox as the guy saying “Arlen Specter gets it.”)

Full disclosure: I was on the campaign staff for Congressman Joe Hoeffel who took on Specter in the general election in 2004.  I’m therefore very familiar with the Senators uncanny ability to occupy two parts of the political spectrum at one time.  It probably takes a firm grasp of quantum physics to explain it.

But back to 2010.  In his blog post, Polman makes the observation that compared even to just 5 years ago there are way fewer Republicans in Pennsylvania and it’s unlikely that the drop in numbers came from the right wing of the party.  Specter, who barely survived a challenge in 2004, could find himself on the losing side of an election for the first time since the 1970s.

So let’s play out that scenario.

It’s becoming less likely that a high profile Democrat like Chris Matthews will take on the Republican leaving it any one of the southeastern members of Congress to go head to head with someone who would ultimately be the second coming of Rick Santorum.  Though it would seem an easy win for someone like Patrick Murphy or Allyson Schwartz in this bluer-than-ever state, it will depend on the national economy and the performance of the Obama administration.  While it’s unlikely that the entire state will tilt far enough to the right to send a Pat Toomey to the Senate, it might also be tough to be a Democrat.

Hmmm… moderate state, party votes out a centrist representative, tough year for the opposing party… sounds a little like Connecticut 2006.  So in rides Arlen Specter once more into the breach in the middle, now with a big letter “I” after his name.  With his name recognition, ability to track to the middle and presumably massive campaign war chest, Specter could tout himself, once again, as the moderate maverick and common sense check against the Obama Administration while having a conservative ideologue running interference on the right so that he, Specter, with his union support and moderate record, is tougher to paint with that conservative brush.

But why would he want to do this?  After having lost an election and facing what would still be a tough battle as an independent candidate, why would Specter want to subject himself to that at the age of 129 80 years old.

It’s simple.  Life support.

It took me all of 10 seconds to find at least one study that said retirement equals death.  There must be countless others out there stating that once one stops working in their old age they are more susceptible to everything from dementia to death.  Being a U.S. Senator is almost like wearing the suit that kept Darth Vader alive.  Specter is a youngster compared to some of his more senior colleagues.  Being a U.S. Senator comes with all of the perks of a full staff to meet their every need.  It’s intellectually stimulating and just the amount of power has got to be invigorating.  Heck, Specter has even been on The Daily Show.  How could you give that up?

Take away the job, take away the reason to live.

Perhaps Senators could go the way of university professors who never really retire but shift over to that semi-retired “emeritus” status.  Specter could still have an office, even a staff of some sort.  He could feel free to eat in the Senate cafeteria and be around to mentor the younger Senators.  Of course he wouldn’t have a vote but he’d have a place to go and a reason to get on Amtrak every day.  New blood comes in.  Institutional wisdom stays.  Old guys continue to live a long time.

Barring that, it seems that the senior Senator from Pennsylvania really is in for the fight of (and for) his life.

Think Progress’ Matthew Yglesias often takes requests from his readers who ask him to provide his unique take on their issue-du-jour.  Over the weekend, he tackled a request from a reader who is concerned that the recession, rampant unemployment and economic distress will lead to an increase in crime in big cities similar to what [...]

Dinner is over and it’s time for dessert.  Here’s what I got for you from the leftovers links that I didn’t get a chance to write about today:
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