A year ago, Senator Arlen Specter was on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania — appearing for a fellow Republican senator,  John McCain, who was in an intense race for the presidency against a Democratic senator, Barack Obama. The two presidential candidates both spent a great deal of time in the swing state, which ended up going Democratic in the November election.

A year later, Specter is busy on the campaign trail again in another tough Philadelphia political battle, his own bid for reelection. But this time, the former moderate Republican is a Democrat. And he wielded the Democrats’ most formidable election weapon at an evening of fundraising on Tuesday — President Barack Obama.

Specter left the Republican party earlier this year, helping to strengthen the Democratic majority in Congress. To thank the 79-year-old, Obama had said he would stand by Specter even in a primary fight to be nominated as the Democratic candidate to retain his Senate seat in 2010.

And he stood by him on Tuesday. Obama spoke at two different fundraising events in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer said the twin Specter events were expected to raise close to $2.5 million, the goal of the evening. Obama touted Specter’s record and qualities to an audience of several hundred supporters who had donated $1,000 to $4,800 each.  Slightly hoarse after a day of speeches to auto workers, the AFL-CIO and Specter supporters, Obama later spoke again at a sit-down dinner for a group of big donors to Specter and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  Aides said Obama posed for 100 pictures with the 200 dinner attendees, two of them at a time.

Obama hailed Specter as “a man who has always put his state before politics, before party.”

Specter praised Obama as “a transformational candidate moving toward being a transformational president.”

Specter knows about transformation.

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PHOTO CREDITS: Specter and Obama arrive in Philadelphia, Larry Downing/REUTERS. McCain and Palin campaign in autumn 2008, Brian Snyder/REUTERS

Old habits are hard to give up, and that seems especially true for newly-minted Democratic Senator Arlen Specter.

As he entered the chamber through the Republican side for a vote on an amendment to a war funding bill, he stopped at the Republican desk where aides put information about the pending measure.

Democratic Senator John Kerry, standing by the Democratic desk, called out across the chamber to Specter: “Arlen, Arlen, we’re over here!”

Specter looked up from the desk and, with a sheepish grin on his face, walked over to the Democratic side of the Senate chamber.

And even though he has made it clear that he will not always vote with his new Democratic friends, Specter did vote with them to reject a Republican amendment that would have stripped out President Barack Obama’s request to extend up to $108 billion in credit lines to the International Monetary Fund.

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jason Reed (Specter with Obama assembling care packages for U.S. troops at the White House)

                                      There was political theater, drama, but no surprise ending on Thursday on a topic involving spies, torture and truth in the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives.

Republicans again ripped into Speaker Nancy Pelosi for accusing the CIA of misleading Congress — and her fellow Democrats quickly blocked their bid for a bipartisan probe into her truthfulness. The vote was 252-172.

“The Republicans … have been focused on the politics of personal destruction,” House Democratic leader House Steny Hoyer said afterward.

Hoyer also accused Republicans of trying to divert attention from the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners as well as Democratic efforts this year to revamp healthcare and move the nation toward energy independence.

Democrats rushed to Pelosi’s defense earlier this week, saying they believe her statement that the CIA did not inform her at a September 2002 briefing that it had used waterboarding, simulated drowning widely denounced as torture, during interrogations of suspected enemy combatants.

Prior to the House vote, Republican leader John Boehner, who has pounded Pelosi for saying the CIA had misled Congress, said, “Getting to the bottom of this quickly is important.”

“The speaker has made a very serious charge,” Boehner told reporters. He added it has had “a chilling effect on our U.S. intelligence officials around the world.”

Hoyer fired back by citing what he said were remarks by a number of Republicans, including Boehner, in recent years critical of the CIA.  On Wednesday, Senator Arlen Specter, a former Republican who recently switched to Democrat, defended Pelosi — known as one of the most liberal Democrats in the House and a favorite target of conservative critics.

“The CIA has a very bad record when it comes to — I was about to say ‘candid;’ that’s too mild - to honesty,” Specter, a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told members of the American Law Institute.

REUTERS/Stephen Hird (House speaker Nancy Pelosi at No. 10 Downing Street after meeting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on May 12)

Senator Arlen Specter, who has had some rocky times since switching from the Republican to Democratic party last week, had a really good day on Thursday.

Specter gained some power — the chairmanship of a Senate subcommittee — and lost a potential and powerful reelection foe, former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

“After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate,” Ridge said in a statement.

Earlier on Thursday, Senate Democrats, who had stripped Specter of committee seniority this week, turned around and gave him the chairmanship of a Judiciary subcommittee on crime and drugs. 

“I want Senator Specter to feel welcome in our caucus,” said Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, the Democrat who surrendered the chairmanship to make way for Specter. 

“It is something I’d like to do,” Specter said. 

Specter riled members of both parties last week in becoming the chamber’s newest Democrat.

Former Republican colleagues accused him of abandoning them merely to improve his chances for reelection to a sixth term in his increasingly Democratic state.

And Democrats were peeved by some of his initial action as their newest colleague.  Specter voted against President Barack Obama’s $3.4 trillion budget plan and opposed a Democratic bid to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

He also joked that Republican Norm Coleman may end winning the contested Senate race in Minnesota and denied a report he had told President Barack Obama “I’m a loyal Democrat.”

On Tuesday, Democrats stripped Specter of committee seniority and the Pennsylvania Democrat cried foul.

Specter said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid had assured him that he would maintain seniority if he became a Democrat.

Democratic aides, however, insisted Reid told Specter that the matter would be decided by the full Senate Democratic caucus, and would be revisited after the 2010 election.

An upbeat Specter said on Thursday, “I’m confident that the seniority will be restored in due course.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst.  (President Barack Obama and Senator Arlen Specter at the White House)

A week after switching parties, former Republican-turned-Democratic U.S. Senator Arlen Specter has suffered the political equivalent of a kick in the pants.

The action — stripping him of Senate seniority — isn’t expected to change the outcome of any pending legislation. But it puts Specter on notice he must earn his Democratic stripes.

The figurative boot in the butt was administered on late Tuesday by Senate Democrats, who have been irritated by many of Specter’s initial moves as a member of their party.

Since leaving the Republican ranks, Specter has voted against President Barack Obama’s $3.4 trillion budget plan and opposed a Democratic bid to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. He also joked that Republican Norm Coleman by end up winning a contested Senate race in Minnesota and denied a report that he had told President Barack Obama “I’m a loyal Democrat.”

“Specter hasn’t done himself any favors the past week,” a top Democrat said.

In changing parties last week, however, Specter, 79, first elected to the Senate in 1980, told reporters he would continue to break party ranks when he sees fit.

He also said that Senate Majority leader Harry Reid had assured him that he would retain his seniority.

But the full Democratic-led Senate, on a voice vote on Tuesday, made Specter the chamber’s most junior Democrat.

“Let’s face it. Specter isn’t a warm and fuzzy guy, the type you go out of your way to help out,” said a top Democrat.”Specter now has a year and a half to make his case to his new Democratic colleagues.”

Senate Democrats have indicated they will revisit Specter’s seniority after the 2010 election, when the Pennsylvanian will be up for a sixth term.

Specter said in a statement on Wednesday: “Some members of the (Senate Democratic) caucus have raised concerns about my seniority, so the caucus will vote on my seniority at the same time subcommittee chairmanships are confirmed after the 2010 election.”

“I am eager to continue my work with my colleagues on the various committees on which I serve and will continue to be a staunch and effective advocate for Pennsylvania’s and the nation’s priorities,” Specter said.

REUTERS/Larry Downing   (Sen. Arlen Specter’s name plate sits on a desk)

Newly minted Democratic Senator Arlen Specter made a relatively quiet debut as an official Democrat on Thursday — his desk was moved to the other side of the aisle.

Specter also showed up — albeit briefly — at the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Barack Obama’s request for $83.4 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to provide additional foreign aid to countries like Pakistan.

Specter quietly slipped into the room and sat on the Democratic side of the dais but in the last seat where traditionally the most junior member sits. Specter is expected to stay on the same committees he served on as a Republican and retain his seniority.

The Pennsylvania senator left after spending about 15 minutes or so at the hearing without uttering a word, let alone asking a question of the two witnesses — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (Specter’s nameplate on the Democrats’ side of the dais at the Senate Appropriations Committee.)

Reaction among Republicans to Senator Arlen Specter’s decision to defect to the Democratic party ranged from somber disappointment to outrage, and now the Republican National Committee hopes to capitalize on that anger.

RNC Chairman Michael Steele sent an e-mail to supporters expressing his outrage and disbelief that Specter was blaming his fellow Republicans for leaving. He beseeched party members to send in donations to help defeat Specter in the 2010 election.

“He simply believes he has a better chance of saving his political hide and his job as a Democrat,” Steele said in the e-mail. ”He loves the title of senator more than he loves the party — and the principles — that elected him and nurtured him.”

In Steele’s bid to gin up donations, he told supporters: “Some will use Specter’s defection as an excuse to fold the tent and give up. I believe that you are not one of those people. When Benedict Arnold defected to the British, George Washington didn’t fold the tent and give up either.”

Specter, who has broken with Republicans on several key votes, said that he decided to switch parties because the Republican party swerved further to the right and he recognized he would not likely survive a primary challenge against a more conservative Republican in Pennsylvania.

He was greeted at the White House on Wednesday with open arms by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden — which will likely spark more cash appeals from Republicans.

Specter and Obama acknowledged that the two would likely differ in the future. To that end, a key test vote will come later on Wednesday when the Senate votes on the Democratic-authored fiscal 2010 budget blueprint. Specter opposed the Senate version earlier this month.

“I know the decision Senator Specter made yesterday wasn’t easy.  It required long and careful consideration, and it required courage,” Obama said. ”But I know that it also reflects an independence that has been the hallmark of Arlen Specter’s career since the days he arrived in Washington.”

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Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Specter speaks to reporters at the White House with Obama and Biden looking on); Illustration of Specter courtesy of Paul Szep

As he marks his 100th day in office, President Barack Obama has a new reason to celebrate — the defection of a senior Republican to his Democratic party.

Calling Arlen Specter “one tough hombre”, Obama appeared at the White House with the long-time moderate Republican and welcomed him as the “newest Democrat from the state of Pennsylvania.”

“I know that the decision that Senator Specter made yesterday wasn’t easy. It required long and careful consideration and it required courage,” Obama said.

Specter’s switch put Senate Democrats within grasp of being able to pass Obama’s ambitious agenda, including expanding health care and moving the nation toward energy independence, without any Republican votes.

Specter gave Democrats 59 seats in the 100-member Senate, one short of the 60 needed to clear Republican procedural roadblocks.

Obama didn’t mention that but he did take the opportunity to note that Specter’s decision reflects regognition that the administration is open to different points of views.

“We seek cooperation and common ground and …in these 100 days we’ve begun to move this nation in the right direction. ”

After his appearance Obama headed to Missouri for a town-hall style meeting — the kind he excelled at during his presidential campaign. Then he comes back to Washington for a prime-time news conference.

Obama also took a few minutes to talk about the swine flu outbreak, after a baby in Texas became the first confirmed death outside Mexico from the virus.

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention testify on Capitol Hill about swine flu and the government response.

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Photo credit: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (Obama and Vice President Joe Biden laugh as they welcome Specter to the Democratic party)

Republican U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, 79, of Pennsylvania appears to face a tough run next year for reelection to a sixth term.
    
And he can blame his problems largely on his decision last month to break ranks with fellow Republicans and vote for President Barack Obama’s $787 economic stimulus package.
    
Those are the findings of a Quinnipiac University poll of about 1,000 Pennsylvania voters released on Wednesday.
 
The Connecticut-based university found that Specter, viewed as a moderate, trails former conservative congressman Pat Toomey, his likely Republican primary challenger, by a margin of 41 percent to 27 percent. Specter narrowly defeated Toomey in a 2004 primary battle.
 
Another and somewhat smaller poll by Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania was a mixed bag for Specter.
 
While the survey showed Specter leading Toomey 33 percent to 18 percent, it found that 49 percent of respondents were undecided or favored others.
    
That survey of 662 people also found that less than half — 40 percent — believe Specter deserves another term, with 46 percent saying it is “time for a change.”
    
The Quinnipiac survey showed Democrats and independents backed Specter’s support of Obama’s stimulus package. But Republicans opposed it — 70 percent to 25 percent.
 
Both surveys were conducted in recent days and had a margin of error between plus or minus of three to four percentage points.
 
“Pennsylvania Republicans are so unhappy with Sen. Specter’s vote for President Barack Obama’s stimulus package and so-called pork barrel spending that they are voting for a former congressman they hardly know,” said Clay Richards, assistant director of Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
 
Richards added, however, if Specter survives the primary, he would have a lot going for him in the general election since there currently seems to be no strong Democratic contender.
 
But Specter faces other problems.
 
He stepped into a political hornet’s nest on Tuesday when he opposed a bill to make it easier for workers to unionize, a top legislative goal of organized labor but anathema to many in the business community and his own party.
 
So if Specter wins the Republican primary, he can expect to be opposed by energized union supporters in the general election. 
 
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U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, 78, managed to crack a few jokes and talk about his faith on Wednesday as he vowed to fight a recurrence of cancer and seek reelection in 2010.

“I consider it another bump in the road,” the Pennsylvania Republican told a Capitol Hill news conference called to discuss a recurrence of Hodgkin’s disease. “I’ve had a lot of bumps, and I’ve got good shock absorbers.”

Specter, who successfully battled the illness in 2005, disclosed this week he had been diagnosed with a recurrence of the cancer. His doctor said he had an “excellent chance of achieving a complete remission.”

Specter told reporters he will begin chemotherapy later this month and is confident he will again be able to keep up with his Senate duties.

Asked what keeps him going, Specter said wryly: “Got a good job, yes, faith, family, questions from the news media.”

Specter said he intends to seek a sixth term in 2010 and expects Democrats to try to make his health and age a factor. Democrats ousted a more conservative Pennsylvania senator, Rick Santorum, in the 2006 election.

Then Specter resurrected a couple of quips he used on a visit to the popular cable TV program, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

“He (Stewart) asked me how old I was, and I said, ‘I forget.’ And then I said I looked at my birth certificate recently and I decided not to let a little thing like that bother me because it happened so long ago.’” 

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- Photo credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst (Specter last September on Capitol Hill)