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Specter rejects Santorum's debate claim of deal on Supreme Court nominees
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter rejected Rick Santorum's claim during Wednesday night's presidential debate that he had promised to support former President George W. Bush's nominees to the Supreme Court in exchange for Santorum's endorsement, telling The Michael Smerconish program Thursday that claim wasn't true.
"He is not correct. I made no commitment to him about supporting judges," Specter said. "I made no deal."
Santorum made the claim during a heated moment in Wednesday's presidential debate, after Mitt Romney deflected criticism that his Massachusetts healthcare plan had been the model for President Obama's national reform bill by saying that the president's reforms would have never passed had Santorum not backed Specter.
Santorum defended the endorsement of Specter — who eventually switched from a Republican to a Democrat and voted in favor of the president's healthcare law — saying he had secured a guarantee that Specter, who then chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, would back Bush's Supreme Court nominees.
"Every nominee he supported passed because he gave Democrats cover to vote for him and moderate Republicans cover to vote for him … I did the right thing for our country," Santorum said.
Specter said Thursday that he thought Santorum's endorsement made little difference in the primary race against then-Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) Toomey went on to challenge Specter again in 2010 when the incumbent was running as a Democrat, eventually winning the seat.
"His support was hardly determinative, hardly that important," Specter said, noting his campaign ran ads featuring endorsements from Bush rather than Santorum.
Specter's comments were first reported in the Washington Post.
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