So was Arlen Specter joking, when he seemed to say he wanted Norm Coleman to win in Minnesota? That’s what some people have been wondering after Specter said this: “There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.”
So I asked New York Times reporter Deborah Solomon, who conducted the interview, what her impression was of Specter’s actual tone of voice and overall expression.
“I trust he meant what he said,” Solomon wrote to me. “If he had been joking, surely he could have come up with a wittier line.”
Late Update: Specter has backed off of the comments, explaining: “In the swirl of moving from one caucus to another, I have to get used to my new teammates.”
