Sigh.  Can it really be so long ago that I was out protesting his leadership of the dastardly Republican conspiracy to interrogate Anita Hill?  Backwards, turn backwards, oh time in thy flight . . .

Instant analysis:  this is probably not a good sign for the future of the Republican party, not because Arlen Specter is so crucial to its ideological or political integrity, but simply because he's a seasoned politician from a swing state, and what does he know that other Republicans don't?

On the other hand, I remember when that savvy political prognosticator, Jim Jeffords, sealed the doom of the Republican Party in the Senate.  I hope that Specter has better sense than Jeffords in titling his next self-serving autobiography.