Arlen Specter

Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to switch parties Tuesday further erodes the GOP's legislative power and adds a key player to the Democrats' quest for a filibuster-proof majority to propel President Obama's ambitious agenda.

Illustrating Sen. Arlen Specter's uncertain political future, two new surveys suggest that Pennsylvania voters are ready to reject him, with a majority of Republicans saying he doesn't deserve reelection. The polls by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut and by Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania show conflicting head-to-head results in hypothetical matchups between Specter and possible GOP challenger Pat Toomey -- with each holding a double-digit lead over the other.

Say what you want about Sen. Arlen Specter and his obsession with the New England Patriots' videotaping scandal. Yes, he's a politician. Yes, he could be focused on more important issues. Yes, he's a Philadelphia Eagles fan. Yes, he's supported by a cable company fighting the NFL. But he could still be right. The Pennsylvania Republican is calling for an independent investigation of Spygate.

Arlen Specter was never much of a Republican. He won't be much of a Democrat either. His record in the Senate has always been quirkily centrist. He has voted for Republican presidents' conservative Supreme Court nominees but still supported abortion rights. He was one of only three GOP senators who voted for President Obama's $787-billion stimulus bill. He often exasperated other senators by offering his own idiosyncratic bills. Conservatives dubbed him a RINO: Republican In Name Only.

Sen. Arlen Specter's defection from the Republican Party drew cheers Tuesday from President Obama and other top Democrats. But some key players in the party base viewed the move with suspicion -- demanding that if Specter wants to call himself a Democrat, he had better start acting like one. As a moderate Republican, Specter maintained friendly relations with Pennsylvania's powerful labor unions, which were glad to have him on their side on many issues.

Sen. Arlen Specter has been told by several of his most faithful GOP backers in Pennsylvania that they'll abandon their support if he votes for a union-rights bill working its way through Congress, an ultimatum that carries significance both for the measure and for Specter's reelection next year. The threat has come in unusually blunt terms at a time when some Republicans in the state are furious at the five-term senator for backing the economic stimulus package.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) on Tuesday dealt a major setback to organized labor's top legislative priority, announcing that he opposes a bill that would make it easier for workers to unionize. That leaves the measure without a crucial Republican swing vote. In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter said the dismal economy makes it "a particularly bad time" to enact the Employee Free Choice Act -- the so-called card check law -- but that he might reconsider "when the economy returns to normalcy."

The Northeast's dwindling cast of Senate Republicans has Democrats circling Arlen Specter's seat in Pennsylvania, convinced the party is well-positioned to make a competitive race out of the 2010 election. Leading the pack of prospects -- at least in celebrity -- is Chris Matthews, the MSNBC "Hardball" host and a former Capitol Hill Democratic staffer.

Specter: An editorial on April 30 described Arlen Specter as "the six-term senator from Pennsylvania." He is seeking a sixth term in 2010.

Long before Hollywood discovered its political voice, medicine and medical research were the Industry's causes of choice. Locally, you wouldn't be far wrong if you called Cedars-Sinai the hospital that millions of movie tickets built. In recent years, the only thing that's bigger box office on the Hollywood fundraising circuit than a hot Democratic candidate is stem cell research, which is why the entertainment industry's unlikely man of the hour is the 79-year-old senior U.S.

President Obama, making an unusual foray into a Democratic primary election battle, told a paid crowd of supporters of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) on Tuesday that the senator would fight "to help me move this country forward." The reception drew 750 people, some of whom paid $2,400 to attend. The president was scheduled to attend a more intimate gathering of Specter's big-money donors later today. Overall, the fundraiser was expected to bring in nearly $2.5 million, split between Specter's campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Arlen Specter, the five-term senator from Pennsylvania and recently minted Democrat, is one of the great survivors of U.S. politics, and he may extend his lease on public office next year when he seeks reelection. But he shouldn't expect to win the nomination of his new party by default. Thanks to Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), he won't. Sestak, a retired vice admiral, announced Tuesday that he will challenge Specter in the 2010 Democratic primary.

Long before Hollywood discovered its political voice, medicine and medical research were the Industry's causes of choice. Locally, you wouldn't be far wrong if you called Cedars-Sinai the hospital that millions of movie tickets built. In recent years, the only thing that's bigger box office on the Hollywood fundraising circuit than a hot Democratic candidate is stem cell research, which is why the entertainment industry's unlikely man of the hour is the 79-year-old senior U.S.

Specter: An editorial on April 30 described Arlen Specter as "the six-term senator from Pennsylvania." He is seeking a sixth term in 2010.

Sen. Arlen Specter received a hero's welcome at the White House on Wednesday, while the Republican Party he left behind continued to grapple with the implications of his defection. Specter stunned his colleagues Tuesday by announcing he would run as a Democrat in next year's Pennsylvania Senate primary, further decimating the ranks of a party whose popularity has been waning in recent years.

Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to switch parties Tuesday further erodes the GOP's legislative power and adds a key player to the Democrats' quest for a filibuster-proof majority to propel President Obama's ambitious agenda.

Arlen Specter was never much of a Republican. He won't be much of a Democrat either. His record in the Senate has always been quirkily centrist. He has voted for Republican presidents' conservative Supreme Court nominees but still supported abortion rights. He was one of only three GOP senators who voted for President Obama's $787-billion stimulus bill. He often exasperated other senators by offering his own idiosyncratic bills. Conservatives dubbed him a RINO: Republican In Name Only.

Sen. Arlen Specter's defection from the Republican Party drew cheers Tuesday from President Obama and other top Democrats. But some key players in the party base viewed the move with suspicion -- demanding that if Specter wants to call himself a Democrat, he had better start acting like one. As a moderate Republican, Specter maintained friendly relations with Pennsylvania's powerful labor unions, which were glad to have him on their side on many issues.

Illustrating Sen. Arlen Specter's uncertain political future, two new surveys suggest that Pennsylvania voters are ready to reject him, with a majority of Republicans saying he doesn't deserve reelection. The polls by Quinnipiac University in Connecticut and by Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania show conflicting head-to-head results in hypothetical matchups between Specter and possible GOP challenger Pat Toomey -- with each holding a double-digit lead over the other.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) on Tuesday dealt a major setback to organized labor's top legislative priority, announcing that he opposes a bill that would make it easier for workers to unionize. That leaves the measure without a crucial Republican swing vote. In a speech on the Senate floor, Specter said the dismal economy makes it "a particularly bad time" to enact the Employee Free Choice Act -- the so-called card check law -- but that he might reconsider "when the economy returns to normalcy."