You may have already noted our piece about Arlen Specter in this week's magazine, where we discuss Specter's precarious position as the man in the middle. Democrats are looking to him to provide the magical 60th vote in the Senate (assuming Franken is eventually seated), but he's up for re-election in 2010, and needs to burnish his conservative bona fides to beat out challenger Pat Toomey in the GOP primary. Specter only just grazed past Toomey in their 2004 primary match up. One option we didn't discuss in the magazine article, but that pundits are buzzing about, is the possibility of Specter running as an independent - doing a Joe Lieberman if you will. But in Pennsylvania a candidate can only run as an independent if they haven't already lost in a primary, thus ruling out the Lieberman's path. Specter would have to declare himself as an independent and bow out of GOP primary. Dan Stone and I asked Specter about that possibility when we sat down with him. His response was unequivocal:

Newsweek: Would you consider running as an independent.

Specter: No.

Newsweek: No? Definitely not?

Specter: I'm a Republican and I'm going to run in the Republican primary and on the Republican ticket.

Newsweek: We talked to Governor Rendell who said that the running joke is that you could easily become a Democrat and if you did, the framework in the state would make things very easy for you.

Specter: I'm not considering it. Rendell said he would help me raise money. He said that publicly a few weeks ago and I responded publicly that if I became a Democrat I wouldn't need to raise money.

 I guess that's that, but when are things ever that simple in politics?

The White House today unveiled the design for the eggs to be used in this year's White House Easter Egg Roll. The White House is touting them as " the ‘greenest’ egg in White House Easter Egg Roll history." No, they didn't add pesto to the eggs (although pesto scrambled eggs are delicious, we suggest you try them immediately) but they did use 31% less paperboard than the 2008 egg and used renewable, vegetable oil based inks. You can purchase your own egg online.

In another break from tradition, the White House announced yesterday that it distributed tickets for the Egg Roll to gay and lesbian parents to ensure these families were included in the event. According to the AP, the White House reached out to various LGBT organizations and over 100 of these families are expected to attend. A similar number of gay parents and their children attended the Egg Roll in 2006 (although they were not sought out by the White House), causing great consternation amongst some religious conservatives.

The President will host the first ever White House Seder in the Residence this evening, marking the second night of the Jewish holiday. This isn't the President's first Seder: He attended an informal celebration organized by staffers on the campaign trail last year. ABC's Jake Tapper reports that Eric Lesser, a special assistant to David Axelrod, will lead the festivities. Interestingly, the two highest profile Jews in the White House, Axelrod himself and Rahm Emmanuel, will not be attending, presumably celebrating with their kin.

As President Obama prepares to head south of the border next week to meet with allies at the Summit of the Americas, the New York Times reports that Obama is gearing up to tackle what is traditionally a hot button issue at that forum: immigration. The Times reports, citing a White House official, that Obama plans to pitch an immigration reform plan that includes pathway to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 12 million illegal immigrants. There are few other details on what exactly else he’ll build into the plan. Obama is expected to speak publicly on his immigration proposal in May and over the summer, the White House will convene working groups to examine the issue.

It’s a little unclear why the White House is leaking this information out now, though we guess it’s a move to possibly test the political waters on what will clearly be a divisive issue. Just ask George W. Bush, who saw his bipartisan proposal tank amid strong opposition from Republicans two years ago. The atmospherics are a lot different now—and not for the better. The economy is clearly not in a great place, with unemployment numbers on the increase. And that likely will only enhance the argument reform opponents made last time that legalizing immigrants could hurt U.S. jobs.  Obama appears to have learned some lessons from that last battle: He’ll apparently couch his proposal by arguing for more border protections and cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. The thing to watch is who in Congress will get on board with Obama. With some exceptions—including possibly, John McCain—the White House likely won’t attract much support from Republicans. But it’s Democrats who may be the biggest challenge for Obama. He'll need to support of the majority of his party for immigration reform to pass, but that won't be easy. Conservative Democrats, including the Blue Dog coalition in the House, weren’t very enthused about this issue the last time it came up. Will Obama's popularity among voters make the difference?

From the team of aces that brought you The District, here's the next installment of Newsweek's reality TV take of the Obamas' new life. Last week, TV pundits turned Michelle Obama into a globetrotting supermodel. This week, the folks at Newsweek Video take it a step further.