Many Pennsylvania Democrats I know have mixed feelings about Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa. On the one hand, he used to be the kind of Republican they liked — moderate, independent, with a wicked sense of humor. He agrees with them on abortion rights, environmental issues and illegal immigration. For years, they have helped him win re-election to the U.S. Senate by crossing over and supporting him in general elections. But that was then.
Today, Specter is Democrat. He switched parties this year in anticipation of an impossible Republican primary fight against Pat Toomey, a former U.S. representative and the president of the conservative Club For Growth. Critics call him a political opportunist, but Specter has said he was forced out a party that has no tolerance for centrism or independent thinking. Specter will face Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and genuine liberal, in a primary this spring.
So what’s a Democrat to do? That was the big question Monday night when Specter showed up to speak to the AU College Democrats at the University Club in Mary Graydon Center. Wearing a rainbow-colored tie he called “festive,” Specter stood at the front of the room and made his case on just about every issue imaginable. His core argument was that he has always voted with Democrats much of the time and he now feels more comfortable as one of them.
Specter said he supports increasing funding for student loans, cap and trade legislation and raising the minimum wage. He also reminded the Democrats that he voted for the stimulus package — as a Republican.
“I knew that if I voted for it, I would be severing my ties with the Republican Party,” he said.
Specter said Congress will pass a comprehensive health care reform bill.
“I think we’re going to get a public option,” he said.
Several times during the event, the crowd applauded Specter and laughed at his jokes. Honestly, I laughed at his jokes, too. He’s hilarious. There is something striking and disarming about a 79-year-old United States senator who quips about being a sex symbol and explains his opposition to legalizing marijuana by telling a story about pot smokers in Nepal. Specter had people doubling over when he said Sarah Palin was “running for queen.”
When the talk was over, I got five minutes with Specter outside MGC. I had been thinking about how Sestak is currently courting the Air-America wing of the Democratic Party, so I began by asking, “Is Joe Sestak too liberal for Pennsylvania?”
Specter was silent for about five seconds and then said, “I wouldn’t criticize him for where he is on the political spectrum.”
It was a dodge, and it might have been a lame answer, but true to form, Specter saved it with wit.
“I think these categories of liberal, moderate and conservative are like bikinis - they conceal more than they reveal,” he said with a wink.
Still, Specter must see Sestak as a threat from the left, because he went on to hit him from the left on Afghanistan.
“I think his position on Afghanistan is not a liberal position. I’m not for increasing troops in Afghanistan and he is. He calls it ‘measured.’ I’m not in favor of that,” Specter said.
I asked him about a moment in his talk when he said he switched to the Democratic Party because he “felt comfortable” with President Barack Obama at the helm. I asked him why he had stayed a Republican during the election and voted for McCain.
“I never spoke out against Obama — not one time. I think McCain is a good man and I was trying to bring some moderation back to the Republican Party;” (earlier in the evening, Specter said the greatest failure of his career was failing to bring the GOP a bit more towards the political center).
For my last question, I asked him about conservative groups like the Club For Growth that fund primary challengers to centrist Republicans. I told Specter I was from Rhode Island and asked about Lincoln Chafee, the former GOP senator from my state who lost his seat in 2006 largely because he was weakened by a Club For Growth primary challenger.
“Chafee was beaten by Toomey and the Club For Growth,” Specter said. “They spent all this money in the primary — they primaried him. The Club For Growth has run conservative candidates who have won [primaries] with some frequency and elected Democrats in the fall ... They’re trying to beat [Gov. Charlie Christ] in [the Florida Senate race]. They will not tolerate deviation. [Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.] said he’d rather have 30 people who are pure than have a majority. Well, that’s not the way you win elections and that’s not the way you govern.”
But none of this is his problem anymore. As his staff was tugging him away, he joked, “Well, I think it’s a good strategy. I think that strategy will enable Democrats to win.”
It was another good line, and he must have been pleased with it, because with that, Arlen Specter slapped my arm, turned on his heel and left.
You can reach this staff writer at gvyse@theeagleonline.com.
