Some Shocking Trib Facts

We are nothing if not fair and balanced here at 2PJ.

And so with trembling lip and sweaty palm I write the following words:

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review gets one right.

It's in this week's Whispters column:

A DEM IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. It's being accurately billed as Arlen Specter's favorite fib.

Pennsylvania's senior senator has been telling folks on the campaign trail that even before he switched political parties from Republican to Democrat last year, he voted more often with the Dems than with the GOP.

But that's not true, as the Pa2010 Web site's Dan Hirschhorn pointed out.

While Specter did occasionally vote with those across the aisle, most measures of his voting record as a Republican put his GOP loyalty at 60 to 65 percent. As Hirschhorn succinctly noted, that's exactly what you'd expect from a centrist.

Here's Dan's piece on the fibbing:

As [Specter] courts Democrats for his first primary race in the party, he often says that, even as a Republican, he voted more often with Democrats than with the GOP. I’ve heard him say this at least three times in the last month or so.

It’s a nice sound bite. But it’s not true.

The metrics vary depending on who’s doing the counting, but by no measure did he ever come close to voting more with Democrats than with Republicans when he was still on that side of the aisle. Over the last decade or so, most measures have his party-loyalty record somewhere in the 60-65 percent range—exactly what you’d expect from a centrist. Naturally, he got guff for not voting with Republicans enough back in the 2004 primary.

Fair's fair and a broken watch is right twice a day.