For first time, Specter formally addresses Pa. Dems

PITTSBURGH—Senator Arlen Specter formally addressed his new party Saturday afternoon, telling a meeting of the Democratic State Committee here that he was proud to be a Democrat once again and that he would work hard to elect other Democratic candidates.

”Maybe it’s no coincidence that I feel so comfortable with Democrats, because I’ve spent most of my life with Democrats,” Specter said, calling himself an “FDR and JFK Democrat.”

“Maybe it’s no coincidence that I’ve been derided for years by the far-right as a Republican in name only,” he said. “Well, I’m no longer a Republican. I’m again a Democrat, and I’m pleased and proud to be a Democrat.”

Specter spent the early parts of his 17-minute speech recounting the times he has been behind Democratic initiatives, most recently his vote in favor of President Obama’s stimulus package.

“I would not stand by and join the Republican obstructionist party and its straight-line vote when this country was faced with the prospect of a1 1929 depression that hit my family so hard,” he said.

He got some of his biggest applause from his pledge to campaign for other Democrats.

“I will work hard to replace our great Gov. Ed Rendell with a new Democratic governor,” Specter said.

His speech came as party leaders look to shore up support for the new Democrat within the party apparatus, but also as rank-and-file Democrats and union workers remain highly skeptical of Specter’s Democratic bona fides. Only hours earlier, he received a far less enthusiastic greeting at a labor rally.

But inside the Westin Convention Center, party insiders seemed ready to accept him as one of their own.

“It was a fabulous speech,” said Pam Janvey, a longtime State Committee member in Bucks County. “I’m sure there are some people still [skeptical], but 95 percent, from what I’ve seen, are ready to support him.

“We’re the Democratic Party,” she added. “We never have 100 percent agreement on anything.”

Specter also made time to attack his likely Republican rival, former Congressman Pat Toomey.

“We don’t need a Senator who’s a tool of the far-right,” he said. “We don’t need a Senator who’s far out of the mainstream, a Senator who makes Rick Santorum look like a liberal.”

•Also on pa2010.com:
At labor rally, frustration with Specter is palpable
Sestak: Only an ‘act of God’ can keep him out of Senate race