Specter: No Deal With Santorum

It’s becoming a regular he said, he said. Rick Santorum has stated repeatedly on the campaign trail that he made a “deal” with Arlen Specter for a reelection endorsement in 2004. When Santorum’s opponents for the Republican nomination pressed him on the issue at Wednesday’s Arizona debate, Santorum again asserted that he had talked with Specter before his endorsement and was assured that Specter would support President George W. Bush’s Supreme Court nominees. But Specter, who ran against a more conservative Republican for the Pennsylvania Senate seat, denies any backroom talks and said in an interview Thursday that Santorum’s version of events was flat-out “not true.” Meanwhile, the Mitt Romney campaign has not hesitated to use the muddled tale to its advantage, producing an ad Friday that slams Santorum for supporting Specter.