I actually met Specter not long before he left office. I’d have to say, I think he was quite unwell, both mentally and physically. I don’t think he ever fully recovered from the brain tumor, and the fact that he is no longer the center of attention is no doubt causing an Al Gore-like crackup.
Perhaps a bit cruel to pick on him at this point, in my view.
Screw him, he made his bed, now he gets to lie in it.
If he was that ill, he surely should have retired years before he was forced out of office.
I never could understand why, when in the “real world,” most people are eager to retire by 65 or 70, the denizens of Congress instead cling to power well into their dotage.