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I laid out Arlen Specter’s coming betrayal on card-check in May.

Today, Benedict Arlen just made it official:

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter took another step in his political transformation on Tuesday, telling hundreds of labor activists that he will support legislation that would make it easier to form unions.

In a speech at the AFL-CIO convention, Specter also boldly predicted a compromise version of the bill would be passed in Congress this year.

“We have pounded out an employees’ choice bill which will meet labor’s objectives,” Specter told cheering union delegates.

Specter’s assurance was a reversal from his stance earlier this year, when he declared on the Senate floor that he could not vote for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Since then, Specter switched from the GOP to the Democratic Party, giving Democrats a 60-vote majority in the Senate.

Facing a strong primary challenge from Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak, Specter is counting on union support to help him hold onto his seat. Sestak is not speaking at the convention.

Specter spoke just hours before President Barack Obama was set to address the delegates. Later Tuesday, Obama was to attend a fundraiser for Specter in Philadelphia, where he was expected to tell donors how crucial Specter is for pushing through the White House agenda.

Card check = massively boosting union rolls = massively boosting Democrat voter rolls = permanent GOP minority.

You’re a real patriot, Sen. Specter.

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Update: President Obama is speaking at the AFL-CIO. According to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Salena Zito, Obama singled out Specter for praise and cooed: “The White House is pretty nice, but there’s nothing like being back in the House of Labor.” (It’s a duplex.) He then claimed that when organized labor succeeds, America succeeds.

Tell that to the Boeing workers who just decertified their union.