Facing almost certain defeat in next year's Republican primary, Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter decided to become a Democrat. Not exactly the stuff of Profiles in Courage.
But ABC News tells us that life on the blue end of the pond might not be so pleasant for Specter.
The Democratic establishment may be lining up behind Sen. Arlen Specter -- but some who control the ground troops aren't so ready to fall into line.
On today's "Top Line," Richard Trumka, the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, warned that union leaders may drop their longstanding support for Specter, D-Pa., if -- as he has promised to do -- he votes against them on their legislative priority, the Employee Free Choice Act.
"Those decisions will be made by people in the state, and our members in the state know who will stand with them. And if Arlen Specter -- he stood with them in the past -- if he continues to stand with them, they'll support him. If he doesn't, they won't support him," Trumka told us.
Trumka said the Democratic Party establishment won't prevent labor leaders from making their own decision on Specter, even though President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., have all pledged to support Specter.
In next year's Democratic primary, Specter will face at least one opponent. On the Republican side, former Congressman Pat Toomey, the man who spooked Specter into becoming a Dem, might have opposition as well: popular former Governor and onetime Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
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