Santorum, of course, is the genuine Republican senator from Pennsylvania.

Now here's a statement Specter issued this afternoon:

SPECTER COMMENTS ON THE JUDICIAL CONFIRMATION PROCESS Washington, D.C. - Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) made the following comments today on the judicial confirmation process.

"Contrary to press accounts, I did not warn the President about anything and was very respectful of his Constitutional authority on the appointment of federal judges.

"As the record shows, I have supported every one of President Bush’s nominees in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor. I have never and would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue and, as the record shows, I have voted to confirm Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice O’Connor, and Justice Kennedy and led the fight to confirm Justice Thomas.

"I have already sponsored a protocol calling for a Judiciary Committee hearing within thirty days of a nomination, a vote out of Committee thirty days later, and floor action thirty days after that. I am committed to such prompt action by the Committee on all of President Bush’s nominees.

"In light of the repeated filibusters by the Democrats in the last Senate session, I am concerned about a potential repetition of such filibusters. I expect to work well with President Bush in the judicial confirmation process in the years ahead.”

[end of statement]

Notably, he does not mention how he torpedoed Robert Bork, or the shellacking that Sen. John Cornyn gave him earlier today.

Editor's note: