Arlen Specter gets tangled up in blue humor

Eric Pfeiffer
·Reporter

Something has gotten former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter fired up; and it's not just what he sees as political extremism from his one-time colleagues in the Republican Party.

Specter, who switched parties to become a Democrat shortly before leaving office, has been out promoting his new memoir, "Life Among the Cannibals." But it's his off-color commentary in the past 24 hours that is generating the most attention.

The Washington Post flipped through Specter's new book and found this creepy old-man passage about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin on page 156:

"She was a total charmer, very friendly," Specter wrote. "The few things she said were intelligent."

But then things get a little awkward:

"We were sitting virtually knee to knee in the cramped bus," he wrote. "She radiated sensuality. Her skirt rode above her knees — not exactly short, but close."

Seemingly right on queue, Specter appeared on the MSNBC program "Morning Joe" on Tuesday and compared Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney to an adult film actress, saying, "Mitt Romney has changed positions more often than a pornographic movie queen." The joke caused a startle on the set, with panelist Donny Deutsch quickly responding, "I did not say that. The great senator from the state of Pennsylvania said that."

And Business Insider reports that Specter performed 10 minutes of "surprisingly R-rated" stand-up comedy at Caroline's Comedy Club in Times Square on Monday. Two of the more risqué jokes were directed at Bill Clinton and former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

On Clinton, Specter said, "I called him up to congratulate him on his 65th birthday, and I said, 'How do you feel?' He said 'Arlen I feel like a teenager. The problem is I can't find one.'"
And on Cain, "Herman Cain has always had a problem with grammar. No matter how hard his teachers tried, the couldn't convince Herman Cain that harass was one word."

Specter told Business Insider afterward that he's open to a repeat performance. "If I got invited, I'd give it serious consideration. My dance card is open."

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