An e-mail:

“People complained about Carolyn Short because her husband [former
Philadelphia city official Joseph Torsella] was a candidate for Congress on
the Democratic ticket. Got nothing to do with her quality to serve on the
Judiciary Committee. She took a several hundred thousand dollar pay cut. I
don’t know what she was earning but she’s a defense trial lawyer and very
well qualified and very lucky to get her to come over.”
To your other point, if Specter would make a statement like this about Pryor
or Gonzales I think people would be a little more comfortable with him.
Unfortunately he has yet to do it as you point out.

Yup, exactly. But don’t count on that.