An e-mail from Arlen

An e-mail from Arlen Specter's campaign manager Thursday morning caught me off-guard: "fyi...we sent this to our press list last night..." What Christopher Nicholas was alluding to was my recent blog post about Rep. Joe Sestak's campaign payroll. A few hours later, the Philadelphia Inquirer and PoliticsPA.com had contacted me asking to elaborate on my post. I politely declined, saying I would let the blog speak for itself. This was not the way I planned to get publicity for a blog about unemployment.

Forwarding my post to the statewide media seems like typical political gamesmanship, but it doesn't change the fact millions of Americans are out of work. Although Sestak's payroll problem should be a part of the debate, it still diverts the discussion from more important issues.

About a year ago, Specter changed political parties as unfavorable poll numbers pounded him following his vote on the stimulus. He figured he could cruise to re-election as a Democrat with support from President Obama. Unfortunately, the rest of us living down here in the real world don't have the same connections to keep our jobs.

But can a leopard change his spots so quickly? After all, it was Specter who supported many of the disastrous decisions by the Bush Administration that led to this savage recession. From politicians to greedy CEOs, why is it that the people who make decisions that adversely affect the rest of us are never punished for poor judgment? It seems self-preservation is more important than principle.

The 15 million Americans without a job today did not have that same luxury as Specter to switch party registration to keep a job. Hopefully he'll realize that and focus on the millions of people struggling through this recession, even if it costs him his job in the end.