Senator Arlen Specter may have been voted out of office in May's Pennsylvania Democratic primary but that doesn't mean he will be fading from public life.
ABC News reports that the 80-year-old Mr. Specter has told the White House he would like to remain in government service after he leaves office in January. White House officials are keeping an open mind about possible jobs for him. No doubt they were pleased this week when Mr. Specter announced he will vote to confirm Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court, despite the fact that he voted against her to become Solicitor General last year. But, of course, back then he was a Republican.
Even if Mr. Specter doesn't get a Washington job in the Obama administration, he will be well taken care of in retirement. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell recently signed a bill providing for new building projects around the state. It included a $2 million earmark to establish a library and personal office for Mr. Specter at Philadelphia University, a few blocks from his home in Philadelphia.
Stephen Spinelli, president of Philadelphia University and the man who sought the earmark, is excited about the prospect of Mr. Specter becoming more involved on his campus. When the Arlen Specter Library opens next year it will be in Roxboro House, an historic property where the former senator will keep a private office. Mr. Spinelli said the library's archives will include photos of Mr. Specter with various dignitaries, his papers and artifacts the globe-trotting Senator had collected from around the world. "We've only begun discussing the vast opportunities for programming around this," he gushed to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
-- John Fund
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
POLITICAL DIARY ONLINE
FRIDAY, 16 JULY 10
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