Report: Specter Will Oppose Card Check, Update: Specter Says He Opposes But May Change His Mind Later

Philip Klein reports at the AmSpec blog:

Grover Norquist said today that he received a call from Arlen Specter's chief of staff informing him that the Pennsylvania Senator will vote against cloture on card check, dealing a serious blow to big labor's efforts to pass the legislation that would make it easier to form unions by denying workers a secret ballot on unionization.

Specter was the only Republican to vote for card check last time, which means Republicans can successfully filibuster the measure without any Democratic votes. It's pretty clear that Pat Toomey helped Specter discover his newfound appreciation for the secret ballot (that is, if Norquist's report is correct).

Update: The Hill's Michael O'Brien reports that Specter just confirmed in a speech on the Senate floor that he would oppose cloture on card check, but may change is mind later:

Acknowledging the decisive nature of his vote for the bill's prospects, Specter said he would reconsider his vote when the economy improves.

"Knowing that I will not support cloture on this bill, Senators may choose to move on" to change the controversial provisions in the bill, Specter said.

Update: Here's are the lines from Specter's speech in which he leaves open the possibility of voting for card check in the future:

If efforts are unsuccessful to give Labor sufficient bargaining power through amendments to the NLRA, then I would be willing to reconsider Employees' Free Choice legislation when the economy returns to normalcy.