Just Kidding...?

Does Arlen Specter really want Norm Coleman to win in Minnesota? It sounded like it when he was interviewed by Deborah Solomon for the New York Times magazine Q&A column:

With your departure from the Republican Party, there are no more Jewish Republicans in the Senate. Do you care about that?

I sure do. There's still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.

Which seems about as likely at this point as Jerry Seinfeld's joining the Senate.

Well, it was about as likely as my becoming a Democrat.

Of course that rattled a few cages on the Democratic side, reminding people that Mr. Specter, as predicted, would be just as much of a pain to them as he was to the GOP. Now he says it was all a joke -- and he has to learn how to tell one: "I have to get used to my new teammates." Har de har har.

His new teammates, on the other hand, are taking no chances; they are not letting him keep his seniority on Senate committees. And they're not kidding.

HT to TPM.