Live-blogging Friday night at the Dem committee meeting in Pittsburgh

6:40—Flight from Philly was delayed, so I arrived late.

6:45—First thing I see is Joe Sestak talking with Shanin Specter like they’re old friends. “I’m trying to recruit him,” Sestak jokes. Also, did you know Sestak is apparently the only Congressman whose business card has braile?

6:47—Saw Gary Tuma for the first time in a while. Didn’t realize the former Vince Fumo spokesman now works for the party.

6:55—Specter is here with his chief of staff.

7:00—Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty tells me he’ll decide on whether or not to run for higher office by the end of the summer.

7:05—Democrat Bill Kortz says the party leaders wouldn’t let him speak this weekend. “I’d like equal time,” he tells me. “My remarks would be introductory and respectful.” Sound familiar?

7:10—Party chairman T.J. Rooney is quieting everyone down.

7:13—Presenting of the colors… or the flags… whatever the right terminology is.

7:20—A tribute to the late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll… “we knew her as CBK.”

7:23—Dinner time. For me, that means mingling time. Back in a bit.

7:35—People I’ve seen so far… Ed Rendell, T.J. Rooney, Arlen Specter, Joe Sestak, Dan Onorato, Jack Wagner, Mike Gerber, Bill Kortz, Chris Doherty, Joe Hoeffel, Jonathan Saidel, Bill George… and lots more.

7:42—AFL-CIO head Bill George says “nothing is more important” than card-check if Specter wants union support.

7:48—Casey tells me I’m wrong that he’s been quiet in his support of Specter.

7:51—Reporters gather around Sestak. It’s becoming a regular scene.

7:55—Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is getting love for the G-20 summit.

8:01—Rooney bashing state Senate Republicans for trying to “decimate” education funding.

8:02—On stage about to tout Specter, Rendell calls Casey up, referring to him as the state’s “senior Democratic Senator.”

8:05—Rendell waxing poetic about Specter’s Democratic credentials. Recalls Specter not knowing what party his assistant district attorney’s belonged to in Philly in the 1970′s. “He ran the first non-partisan, bi-partisan District Attorney office.”

8:08—Rendell ticking off Specter’s pro-Democratic votes… SCHIP, development, climate change, human rights… “Sounds like a pretty good Democrat, doesn’t it?”

8:09—Referring to stimulus package, Rendell says Specter “cast the vote that I believe will eventually be responsible for turning this economy around.”

8:10—Going even further, Rendell says Specter’s stimulus vote “saved the country.”

8:12—Casey’s turn to faun over Specter.

8:15—Casey: “I don’t even want to think about where our country would be today … if we didn’t get the votes to pass the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Senator Specter stood up against tremendous odds and tremendous pressure to cast that vote.”

8:17—Introducing Joan Specter, Rendell cracks that “Joan dresses Arlen.”

8:18—Rendell and Casey present Specter with a beautiful “donkey tie.”

8:19—Arlen Specter: “I have never liked to disrobe in public.” He’ll put it on tomorrow, he says.

8:21—Reflecting on Joe Biden’s decades-long lobbying of him to become a Democrat, Specter jokes: “You know how repetitious Vice President Biden can be.”

8:24—Specter talking about cancer and Catherine Baker Knoll. Ruminating on his own cancer, he says he told Baker Knoll that if he shaved his head during chemotherapy that he’d “be a sex symbol.”

8:25—Specter gets standing ovation.

8:27—Rooney is back on stage, talking about Baker Knoll. It is, after all, supposed to be a dinner honoring her, not Arlen Specter.

8:30—A slide show honoring Baker Knoll is playing.

8:38—Rendell: “Catherine truly was a trail-blazer.”

8:45—Casey: “She never forgot the road she traveled, she never forgot where she came from.”

8:51—Jack Wagner: “I never saw a time when Catherine passed up a challenge.” As he points out, he should know. Baker Knoll beat him for the party Lt. Gov. nomination. “She was probably the best Democrat this party has ever known,” Wagner says.

9:07—The tributes to Baker Knoll continue…

9:10—The tribute is over… time for the post-dinner reception hosted by Specter and Dan Onorato… more live-blogging to come soon.

11:45—Well it took me a little while to wrap this up (had to get a bite after all that political shmoozing). But that’s it for tonight. Log on tomorrow for coverage of Specter’s speech to the party, news of another possible Lt. Gov. candidate and more. Word on the street is that Specter will appear at a rally for the Employee Free Choice Act in the morning. But does that mean he’ll vote for it?