Sen. Arlen Specter can change like the weather.
Specter, the Republican-turned-Democrat, has switched or modified positions on a number of crucial issues.
On health care, Specter the Democrat now supports a robust public option, which he claims will bring down medical costs.
But that wasn't Specter the Republican's position earlier this year before he switched parties. Back then, he said he would oppose the public option.
"That's what I said and that's what I meant," Specter said at the time in answer to a follow-up question from a reporter on whether he would vote "no" on the public option.
On the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as "card check," which would allow for easier unionization at the expense of the secret ballot, Specter the Republican had said he strongly opposes the proposed legislation, and even would filibuster against it.
"I'm still against that bill (on card check). Democrats are all for it. Republicans are all against it. I'm the critical vote," Specter the Democrat said in May, adding, "If I see that there are other issues where I feel a matter of conscience, I will continue a filibuster against legislation."
At a campaign rally in Pittsburgh one month later, Specter the Democrat said he was working on card check legislation that will "satisfy" the rank and file and their union bosses.
Now Specter the Democrat is calling for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages &tstr; a measure that he, as a Republican, voted for more than a decade ago.
In a recent op-ed piece, Specter the Democrat calls the Act "a relic of a more tradition-bound time and culture."
"The repeal of (the Act) is one step among several designed to fully integrate and protect the rights of gays and lesbians in American society," he wrote.
He added that states, not the federal government, are the proper forum to address "this divisive and moral issue." (Pennsylvania already has such a law.)
But Specter the Republican was a longtime supporter of the Act, and he once said he would consider supporting a constitutional amendment to strengthen the Act if states did not do their part to uphold it. (He later denied ever making the statement, saying he always has been "very leery of constitutional amendments where there's not some pressing need.")
Specter's latest position on the Act puts him at odds with Pennsylvania's other Democratic senator, Bob Casey, who recently said, "I don't think that's the way to go," when asked whether he would vote to repeal the marriage act.
But Specter's new position is in line with his expected 2010 Democratic primary rival, Rep. Joe Sestak, who also favors repeal of the marriage act.
Both also take a liberal position on the nation's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy banning openly gay members of the military. Specter calls the policy outdated, "and it should be rescinded entirely."
Specter's flip-flopping views no doubt are designed to appeal to his new Democratic constituency. They're also an indication of his willingness to put his own political preservation over principle.
This should give all Pennsylvania voters pause as they consider whether to elect him next year to what would be an unprecedented sixth term.
Democracy depends on trust. Voters trust that candidates will stand on the issues as they promised they would.
But with Arlen Specter, it's tough to know what he stands for; except himself.
