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On Tuesday, Arlen Specter shocked America’s unions by switching sides on the Employee Free Choice Act and promising he would vote “no” if it ever came to a vote, on which he may have been the filibuster-breaking vote, thereby most likely killing the legislation for at least this year. In response, Joe the Plumber has organized a “grassroots” tour across Pennsylvania next week in which he will demand Arlen Specter promise to vote “no” on the Employee Free Choice Act. It’s almost as if Joe the Plumber does not follow the news! ALMOST. MORE »

• SO MUCH FOR THAT ONE: Sen. Arlen Specter has flipped his long-held stance siding with unions on the Employee Free Choice Act and will now vote against invoking cloture on the measure, which is kind of important, because he very well may have been the deciding vote over a filibuster. It may have been to help him win back some conservatives in Pennsylvania, where he will still probably get trounced in the closed Republican primary next year since he voted for the Communist’s stimulus package. And the EFCA is probably done for this legislative session. Take that, remaining people in America who still actually make things! The Fat Cats shall dine on the finest of steaks and potatoes tonight. [National Journal]

• Karl Rove’s forthcoming Kunstlerroman, An American Wife, will identify everyone who was “unreceiving” [sic] of Bush’s agenda, thus ensuring that it will the longest book ever published. [CNN Political Ticker]
• Harry Reid has excommunicated Joe Biden from Senate lunch dates, except on special occasions. [Kevin Drum]
• Sam Zell, the Chicago Cubs-owning publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times has filed for bankruptcy. [AMERICAblog]
• Pennsylvania Democrats want screamy, inexplicably televised manchild Chris Matthews to replace Arlen Specter as Senator. [Marc Ambinder]
• The least talked-about feud in history rages on as Newt Gingrich and Bill O’Reilly continue to antagonize Hendrik Hertzberg. [HuffPost]

MSNBC blabbermouth Chris Matthews has been running around Washington and Philadelphia like a horny debutante, meeting with fancy Democrats and buying Pennsylvania real estate so that (maybe, possibly, allegedly) he could run for the Senate in 2010. His opponent would be Arlen Specter, a venerable Republican who has been a senator for nearly 30 years, a man who had CANCER, for God’s sake, and still showed up to WORK, without any hair. Will Chris Matthews be that awesome to the people of Pennsylvania? MORE »

Check out Walnuts and his old friend Arlen Specter campaigning in the Pennsylvania town of “Media” yesterday. The “old hands” don’t seem to enjoy schlepping this broad around very much, but whatcha gonna do? McCain rally strategy: come on stage with some other local old Senator dude, then roll out that brat in the leather jacket and have her say the words “hockey mom” and do a flip into a pool of 40-degree water, naked. [Philadelphia Will Do]

Just last month, 78-year-old Arlen Specter, campaign finance reform advocate and Senator from PA—our State of the Week!—released his book about beating the cancer while secretly not at all running the government. (The Amazon reviews are in! “If you like this idiocy, you’ll LOVE his first collaborative work of fiction, The Warren Commission Report! His next book is entitled ‘How to take on the NFL without looking like you’re the bag man for Comcast.’”) Now, in an inordinately cruel and stunning coup by his publishers and the Pope’s God, his cancer is back. (Good news: it’s not back super-bad, though he’ll be having the chemo.) His book is currently number one on Amazon in the category “Books / Health, Mind & Body / Cancer,” despite the fact that it needs a new afterword, STAT. Specter has already survived a brain tumor (twice!) and coronary bypass surgery, which means God cannot kill him; this is highly suspicious. [Philly Inquirer]

Hey remember how a couple years ago Rumors circulated regarding Chris Matthews’ supposed Senate run? Well, they are circulating again, this time courtesy of Nixon-loving GOP strategist and Arlen Specter pal Roger Stone. He says that Matthews has been “quietly sounding out Democrats across Pennsylvania” about running against Specter in 2010. However, Matthews is destined to lose because he is always running off at the mouth, plus he is insane, and nobody wants a spit-speckled maniac for a senator unless they are from Alaska. But that won’t stop Chris Matthews! MORE »

So the FEC investigated Arlen Specter and it turns out he broke every single campaign finance rule. When he ran for re-election in 2004, Specter took a million dollars from people who had already maxed out, failed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars from PACs, and missed a reporting deadline before the primary. In his defense though, the rules are complicated and it’s not like the five-term senator has ever run for anything before. MORE »

Remember that horrific U.S. attorney firing scandal? You know, the one that was extraordinarily illegal and should be guaranteeing Democrats electoral dominance for the next 50 years, if they weren’t so bad at exploiting it? Well, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved contempt resolutions this morning against Karl Rove and White House chief of staff Josh Bolten for ignoring it. So… does this mean we get to put Alberto Gonzales in the pokey any time soon? MORE »

Did you think it was only arch-conservatives who wanted us all to stop fucking? Citizens For Government Waste examined all the earmarks in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill and found $882,025 in earmarks for abstinence-only education programs in Pennsylvania. What nefarious conservative put in all 25 earmarks? Why, “moderate” Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter. Money well spent, sir. It’s not like those programs are completely ineffective or anything. [Citizens for Government Waste, Congressional Research Service]