Arlen Specter: Bush Acted Like My Cancer Could Be Contagious

Arlen Specter: Bush Acted Like My Cancer Could Be Contagious

Arlen Specter's new book, "Never Give In: Battling Cancer in the Senate," chronicles the long-time Pennsylvania senator's struggle with an advanced case of Hodgkin's disease. During an appearance on "Hardball" with Chris Matthews Thursday, Specter brought along a photo of himself shaking President Bush's hand to illustrate one of the lessons of his book.

In the photo a bald and visibly ill Specter can be seen shaking hands with a clearly reluctant Bush, who noticeably keeps his distance with his arm fully extended. "He's keeping you at arms length," Matthews laughed. Why was he doing so? Specter offered several theories of what might have been going through Bush's mind at that moment, for example: "He's the chairman, I guess I got to shake his hand."

Watch the clip.

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