You have to hand it to Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) — he sure knows how to make people welcome in the GOP’s big tent.
CQ reports that DeMint says he approached then-GOP Sen. Arlen Specter on April 23, and said something to him: “Arlen, it pains me to tell you this. I’m going to be supporting Pat Toomey in the primary.”
DeMint recalled Specter’s response: “I’ve heard enough.” Specter did not comment much to CQ about it: “It happened in the cloakroom and not on the floor.”
Five days after this conversation, with poll data showing that he would lose his Republican primary against Toomey, Arlen Specter switched to the Democratic Party.
A source close to Specter told us they were not aware of any other GOP Senators who said what DeMint did, and Specter hasn’t mentioned any.
