A Specter Looms

By Tom Haughey

I have always had a tender spot in my heart for Arlen Specter since he was the first senator to write me a letter endorsing me when I announced my candidacy for Congress He is, however, undoubtedly the reason why Obamacare passed the Senate and was enacted into law.

Arlen battled cancer from 2005 until his death in October of 2012. When Obama was elected and proposed his trillion dollar stimulus package, Specter was one of only a handful of Republicans who voted for it. For that he was vilified and ended up with a challenge in Pennsylvania’s Republican Primary. Polls showed he would lose to that challenger (Pat Toomey). Vice President Biden spoke with him often about the advantage of switching parties and running as a Democrat since (according to Biden) Republicans no longer shared his moderate views. Obama promised to support him. He therefore switched parties and was knocked out of the Democrat Primary by Joe Sestak (who in turn lost the general election to Toomey). Less than two years after that, Arlen Specter died of Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

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