PA-Sen: Specter's Support Of Johnsen Didn't Happen In A Vacuum

After nearly a year of senatese stalling, it looks like the Office of Legal Counsel nominee Dawn Johnsen will finally get her up-or-down vote before the full senate -- and the reason is as noteworthy as the vote itself:

Brian Beutler at TPM reports that under pressure from Senate primary challenger Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.)  says he’d vote for Office of Legal Counsel chief nominee Dawn Johnsen, whose nomination has been stalled for almost a year.

Arlen Specter has become a case study of why a primary challenge is so valuable:

For one, Specter has moved from opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) to saying he'll vote to overcome an inevitable Republican filibuster of the legislation. And while Specter used to be considered fairly conservative on the climate legislation, which he has previously filibustered and voted against, he now says there is "no doubt" that he will vote to overcome an inevitable Republican filibuster of the climate bill. And perhaps most surprisingly, Specter has proven to be a reliable proponent of a robust public option ...

Without Sestak's challenge, we would have Specter, comfortably ensconced as a Democrat in name only, giving Joe Lieberman a run for his money on who could most often undermine the party under the guise of "principles" that change as often as most people change their socks.