Free Republic

A town hall erupted in Philadelphia after Sen. Arlen Specter said health care reform has to get done fast.

David Keene, the Chairman of the American Conservative Union trashed Sarah Palin publicly today on NewsMax. However, a quick search of Mr. Keene's recent political contribution history reveals the following: David Keene, Managing Associate of the Carmen Group Lobbying Firm, and Head of ACU, Alexandria, VA. Political contributions in 2008 election cycle: KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 5/1/07 $1,000 Specter, Arlen (R) KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 12/19/07 $800 Specter, Arlen (R) KEENE, DAVID, ALEXANDRIA,VA 22314 THE CARMEN GROUP/EXEC 12/19/07 $200 Specter, Arlen (R) What I want to know is, how does a guy like this...

When Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched parties two months ago, he said he would issue contribution refunds "upon request." Now the Club for Growth, the conservative political group that is a longtime Specter foe, wants to help any disgruntled Republican donors take now-Democrat Specter up on his offer. The Club is asking the Federal Election Commission (FEC) if it can send a letter or make a telephone call to Specter's donors informing them that they can ask his campaign for a contribution refund. The Club would use the donor lists that Specter's campaign has filed with the FEC. Those documents...

Sen. Arlen Specter continues to pick up support from Democratic party leaders across Pennsylvania. However, a new poll indicates that the five-term incumbent has not convinced a majority of Pennsylvania voters that he should be re-elected. According to a new Franklin & Marshall poll released Thursday, only 28 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania think Specter should be re-elected. That number is down from 40 percent in March, a month before Specter's "conversion" to the Democratic Party. Back then, roughly half the voters in each party said that Specter was doing an excellent or good job in the Senate. The...

SOMERSET, Pa. -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the U.S. government will not use eminent domain to seize people's land for a permanent Flight 93 memorial and instead will renew negotiations with landowners near the terrorist crash site in Somerset County. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and Salazar met with families of victims and landowners on Friday in Shanksville to discuss issues surrounding the planned national memorial for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, fatal hijacking. Specter's office said Friday's meeting also focused on what still needs to be done for the memorial to be complete in time for the...

A new Quinnipiac University poll finds that newly-minted Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter has a nine-point lead over Republican challenger Pat Toomey. Specter, who changed his party afflilation to Democrat in April, leads Toomey by 46 percent to 37 percent among registered voters, the poll found. That's a narrower lead than a May 4 poll, which found Specter's lead at 53 percent to Toomey's 33 percent. "Sen. Arlen Specter's numbers have slipped since the controversy that followed his switch to the Democratic Party, but he's still better off than he would have been if he stayed a Republican and faced a...

How appropriate that U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter finds himself at the back of the Democratic Party bus. Did he really expect a hero's welcome and continuance in chairman positions after renouncing his own party at a time of crisis? History shows that nobody trusts or respects a turncoat and a traitor. Arlen should have learned that from the treatment Benedict Arnold received from the British after changing sides in the midst of a fight. Arnold joined with the British but was never accepted or respected by his peers, many officers despised him and his military career was relegated to the...

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) today said he was guaranteed seniority on committees by Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) in the final negotiations before his party switch last week, talks that, according to Specter, also included a pledge that he would become the next chairman of the Judiciary Committee in several years. Specter stood by his version of the one-on-one talks with Reid, despite the Senate leader's contradictory statements on the matter and the resolution that passed last night placing Specter in the most junior slot on most committees on which he serves. "When I talked to Senator Reid he...

On Sunday talk shows, he says the 'big tent' party of Reagan and the late Jack Kemp has been replaced by rigid conservatism. BY MARK TRUMBULL Sen. Arlen Specter (D) of Pennsylvania and leaders of the party he bolted last week surprisingly struck a chord of near agreement in discussing the future of the Republican Party Sunday. The question of whether the party can stage a revival without welcoming Northeastern moderates came to the fore on television talk shows Sunday morning. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Senator Specter blamed the inner workings of the conservative movement for his own departure,...

Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) on Sunday defended his decision to join the Democratic Party this week and said Democrats did not promise him anything for switching. Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Specter said his vote for President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package was a "critical factor" in his decision. "I bucked the Republican line," he said. "And that created a schism. My approval rating dropped 30 points with Republicans as a result of that vote." As a result of that vote and the GOP's reaction, Specter said he was "ostracized" from the party.

Specter says that President Obama, his old friend Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) have all agreed to campaign and raise cash for him -- and that he will welcome the fundraising help of Penn. Gov. Ed Rendell, another old friend. An unspecified group of national leaders will huddle together tomorrow to discuss those plans, he said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed Arlen Specter's conversion to the Democratic Party, while Specter vowed that he'll be an asset as Obama tries to get his ambitious agenda through Congress. Obama said, "I am grateful that he is here." Specter was joined by Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the White House Wednesday morning. Specter noted that he and longtime friend Biden "have talked over every problem under the sun and the moon." With a beaming Obama standing at his side, Specter said: "I think that I can be of assistance to you, Mr. President....

HUMAN EVENTS has learned from staff sources that Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa) is about to announce his switch to the Democratic Party. Developing….

Washington.IT is disheartening and disconcerting, at the very least, that here we are today — almost exactly eight years after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party — witnessing the departure of my good friend and fellow moderate Republican, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, for the Democratic Party. And the announcement of his switch was all the more painful because I believe it didn’t have to be this way. When Senator Jeffords became an independent in 2001, I said it was a sad day for the Republicans, but it would be even sadder if we failed to confront and learn...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Arlen Specter's abrupt move to switch allegiance to President Barack Obama's Democratic Party was a sharp blow to Republicans and will likely generate more soul-searching for the minority party. His decision to seek re-election as a Democrat next year was a nakedly political move to hang on to power.

Hannity showed some footage from as recently as March 17th of this year that was great, where Specter talked about not wanting a one-party country.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Sen. Olympia Snowe — one of the three moderate Republicans including Arlen Specter who supported President Obama's stimulus package — told CNN Tuesday that she has also been approached many times about becoming a Democrat, but that it hasn't happened for a while. "I've been asked, but not recently," she said. Snowe said the Republican Party never learned its lesson from the "painful" party switch of Sen. Jim Jeffords in 2001.

"Some in the Republican Party are happy about this. I am not," he said in a statement. "Let's be honest-Senator Specter didn't leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. "Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don't do it first."

In a sign of voter discontent within Pennsylvania's Republican Party, a poll released today shows 30-year incumbent U.S. Senato r Arlen Specter trailing one of his primary challengers by 21 points. The senate primary election will be held in May, 2010. The Rasmussen Reports survey found that former Congressman Pat Toomey would win 51% of the GOP vote, while Mr. Specter garnered only 30%. Mr. Toomey's favorable ratings are 66% to Specter's 42%. The rivals' negatives are 19% and 55%, respectively. In 2004, Mr. Toomey almost knocked off the powerful incumbent, losing by just two points. A critical factor in...

When I reported on the Pennsylvania Leadership Conference (PLC) in Harrisburg last month, one of the things that was most startling was the number of elected officials who were critical of Sen. Arlen Specter (R.-Penn) and supportive of conservative primary challenger Pat Toomey. Numerous state representatives and senators from the Keystone State among the record crowd of 600-plus attendees freely volunteered to me that they would support the insurgent former Rep. Toomey over the 79-year-old Specter, who has held the Senate seat since 1980. It is easy to get conservative activists to condemn a moderate or liberal Republican incumbent in...

Former Pennsylvania Congressman Pat Toomey almost inched out a victory against long-term Washington fixture and faux Republican Arlen Specter in 2004. It was one of the most expensive primary campaigns in U.S. history. A mere 17,000 votes separated the two out of the 1 million votes cast. That was less than two percentage points. And here comes the rematch. On Tax Day, Toomey, who just stepped down as president of The Club for Growth, formally announced he'll yet again attempt to unseat the Keystone State's senior U.S. senator. Specter already is sweating. Just the hint of a Toomey run had...

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) visited Drexel April 13 for a town hall meeting discussing a "Just and Clean Energy Future". The main goals as highlighted by the presentation were for 100 percent renewable energy, tax on carbon and the presence of green jobs, according to Nathan Taylor, a junior mechanical engineering and the event's organizer. Students were the main target of the town hall, according to Taylor. "We're trying to make a point that students matter, seeing that Specter is up for re-election, he should listen to the students," Taylor said. Specter said his main platform in running for re-election...

(CNN) — It's official. Former Rep. Pat Toomey is challenging Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter for his Senate seat, again. Toomey formally announced his 2010 Senate bid Wednesday, the second time he will challenge the incumbent Pennsylvania senator after running an unsuccessful primary campaign against him in 2004. "I'm running against Arlen Specter in the Republican primary because we need a new direction and positive solutions," Toomey says on his campaign website, ToomeyForSenate.com.

Conservative Pat Toomey, a former Lehigh Valley congressman, this morning announced he is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the 2010 election in a videotaped message on his new campaign website, saying the nation is at a "crossroads" between a greatly expanding federal government and the direction of more economic freedom. The move sets up a much-anticipated rematch with moderate Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.) who earned a fifth term in 2004 after defeating a challenge from Toomey by about 17,000 votes out of more than 1 million cast. Their race will feature a key debate among...

Because of the concentrated efforts of millions of Republicans all over America, Susan Collins (Maine) was reelected to the Senate, surviving a challenge once thought to be serious. She won, in large part, because she was able to drown her Democratic adversary in a sea of campaign spending made possible by donations from Republicans throughout the nation. As a result of their efforts, the GOP preserved its 40th vote in the Senate. And when Saxby Chambliss was forced into a runoff in the Georgia Senate race, Republicans from all over the United States poured out their hearts and their funds...

Sen. John Cornyn says Republican Sen. Arlen Specter is the GOP’s “best bet” to keep his Pennsylvania Senate seat from falling into Democrats’ hands. “As I survey the political landscape of the upcoming 2010 elections,” Cornyn wrote in a letter released by his office Tuesday, “it's clear we need more candidates that fit their states. While I doubt Arlen could win an election in my home state of Texas, I am certain that I could not get elected in Pennsylvania. I believe that Senator Specter is our best bet to keep this Senate seat in the GOP column. A vote...

Just spoke with someone in one of Senator Specter's PA offices. I told him what an outrage it is that this is being rushed through, and why not let it wait a week so the American people can see what's in it. He kept directing me "to the website". I asked him if Specter is planning on running in two years and he said yes. I then told him that he'll get one less vote this time around and that my vote will be going to a conservative like Pat Toomey in the primary. Finally I said Specter is going...

Former Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) will challenge Sen. Arlen Specter in a primary for the second straight cycle, according to Pennsylvania GOP sources. The Allentown Morning Call reported Thursday that two friends of Toomey’s have said the Club for Growth chief has decided to enter the race. Toomey narrowly lost to Specter in a 2004 primary by less than 1 percent and recently said he was considering another run. The paper quotes Richard Thulin, leader of the Lehigh Valley Republican Network, saying in an e-mail to supporters that "Pat's formal announcement will be forthcoming. "Interesting news," he wrote. "Pat Toomey...

Supporter - Republican Senator Arlen Specter is picking sides. It is the crimes of the Bush administration vs. the American people, and Specter is choosing Bush. Specter doesn't want a Truth Commission to investigate Constitutional abuses authorized by Bush and Cheney. He's calling it a "fishing expedition," "unnecessary" and "un-American." Evidently, Specter is afraid of the truth. It's time to show Arlen Specter that America cannot only handle the truth, we demand it. Now's the perfect time to take action, Senator Specter is up for re-election in 2010. With your help we can plaster his home state of Pennsylvania with...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A conservative activist who ran for Pennsylvania governor three times in the 1990s says she will challenge Arlen Specter for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate next year. Peg Luksik, of Johnstown, said Tuesday she is not deterred by the prospective candidacy of former congressman Pat Toomey. Toomey, a fellow conservative who narrowly lost to Specter in the 2004 primary, says he is considering running in 2010. Luksik says Toomey told her last month that he wouldn't challenge Specter. She says it's up to Toomey to decide whether he wants to risk dividing the GOP's conservative...

The U.S. Senate engaged in a floor debate yesterday regarding the controversial confirmation vote of David Ogden as deputy attorney general. Mr. Ogden’s nomination has come under fire because of his legal work on behalf of the porn industry, as well as his efforts to weaken abortion laws. The Senate vote is expected today. Mr. Ogden’s nomination was sent to the full Senate after winning approval in the Judiciary Committee by a 14-5 margin. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., is the ranking minority member on the committee. Despite the Judiciary Committee receiving 11,000 calls urging the rejection of Mr. Ogden,...

Sen. Arlen Specter said Tuesday that he will not run for reelection in 2010 as a Democrat, but might run as an Independent. The Pennsylvania Republican has been under tremendous pressure from the GOP base since being one of just three Republicans to vote for the Democratic-led stimulus package last month. He said in an interview with The Hill that the role of the Republican Party in Washington is too vital for him to switch to the Democratic side. “I’m staying a Republican because I think I have a more important role to play there,” he said. “I think the...

OK, folks. Once again, this isn’t hard. This “card check” business – unions organizing an employer on the basis of public signups rather than secret ballots – is just plain W-R-O-N-G. Why not just issue labor bosses a few thousand crowbars and clubs and tell them to go out and “organize” to their hearts’ content? Duh. Then explain why the decision of Sen. Arlen Specter, RINO (Republican In Name Only) of Pennsylvania, to oppose the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act” he once co-sponsored was greeted by conservatives with such bowing, scraping, acclaim and adulation. I get the import of Specter’s...

Senator Specter has begun running ads against Pat Toomey more than one year prior to the Republican Senatorial Primary election in Pennsylvania. Benedict Arlen has repeatedly opposed the GOP. Let's throw him out before he gets to the primary. Sign the petition to expel him from the GOP. http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/expel-specter.com

Freepers, other citizens storm Sen. Specter's Office on Porkulus Written by Melanie Morgan    Monday, 09 February 2009 Sen. Arlen Specter must feel like one lucky man today. He wasn’t in his Capitol Hill offices when MAF Chairman Melanie Morgan, Gold Star Mom Debbie Lee, Freepers and Free Republic founder Jim Robinson, and other patriotic citizens stormed his office to demand he reverse his position supporting the porkulus bill, aka the Barack-Blowing-Through- Dollars-Scheme. MAF, as you know, is a protroops organization, and it is our opinion that this legislation will hurt veterans’ healthcare - not to mention every other American....

Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---61 Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Bayh (D-IN) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burris (D-IL) Byrd (D-WV) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) Gillibrand (D-NY) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kaufman (D-DE) Kennedy (D-MA) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV)...

I went to visit Sen. Arlen Specter to save him from an embarrassing pro-stimulus vote that will damage America's economy and send the nation back to 1970s-style stagflation. Jim Robinson, founder of FreeRepublic.com, and I arrived at Sen. Specter's office with a group of folks who oppose the $1.5 trillion stimulus package, on this past Monday morning. We asked to see Sen. Specter. The office secretary didn't seem to be happy to see us. I could not blame her. We were there to embarrass her boss. Jim, wearing his Navy cap, asked about the senator's whereabouts, but the secretary wasn't...

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The nation is on the "brink of a depression," but there's a "reasonable chance" that the $787 billion economic stimulus package will help ease the situation, Sen. Arlen Specter said Monday.Specter, R-Pa., said the nation's economic situation is more dire than the public has been told, but did not elaborate. "Our economic problems are enormously serious — more serious than is publicly disclosed. And I think we're on the brink of a depression," he told reporters at the state Capitol.

Dear (redacted): Thank you for contacting my office concerning the confirmation of Eric H. Holder. I appreciate your interest in this important matter and your opinion. The confirmation of an Attorney General is one of my most important responsibilities as a United States Senator. Next to the President, there is no federal official more important than the Attorney General to ensuring that the rule of law is enforced. Attorneys General are trusted with incredible responsibility and, in our justice system, they often have the final say on critical legal issues. As a result, I take the Senate's constitutional role in...

Aaron Blake of TheHill.com reported on March 16, 2009 that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell(D), Sen. Bob Casey(D), and Vice-President Biden(D) are encouraging Senator Specter to leave the Republican party and join the Democrats. Let's give them a hand. SIGN the Petition TO EXPEL SPECTER FROM THE GOP at: www.gopetition.com/petitions/expel-specter.html You can view all of Aaron Blake's article at: http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dems-press-specter-to-switch-sides-2009-03-16.html

Having rejected Democratic overtures to switch parties, Sen. Arlen Specter is raising the possibility he may spurn the GOP and run as an independent. “It’s an abstract possibility,” the Pennsylvania Republican also told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday, regarding an independent bid. “But I am not making any plans on it.” Specter has suggested he would only do so as a last resort, and would continue to caucus with Republicans. Specter has been under fire from GOP conservatives particularly in his home state due to his moderate positions. He was one of only three Republican senators who voted for...

Pat Toomey resigned yesterday as president of the anti-tax Club for Growth, clearing the decks for his expected primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter (R., Pa.). The advocacy group said in a statement that Toomey was leaving to "pursue other opportunities." Former Rep. Chris Chocola (R., Ind.) will be the group's new president. A former congressman from the Lehigh Valley, Toomey has been acting like a Senate candidate for weeks, traveling the state and criticizing Specter's recent votes in favor of federal economic-stimulus and bailout spending. Specter, meanwhile, has aired TV ads highlighting Toomey's past as a Wall Street derivatives...

Likely Opponent In Primary Looks to Tap Anger on Right. BY PERRY BACON JR. PHILADELPHIA, April 13 -- Sen. Arlen Specter's support for President Obama's stimulus package has recharged a political rivalry, setting up what could be a divisive rematch between one of the GOP's leading moderates and a powerful conservative activist. Pat Toomey, head of the anti-tax Club for Growth, stepped down from the post Monday, the first move in what his aides say is an almost-certain run against Specter in next year's Republican Senate primary. In the 2004 primary, Specter defeated Toomey by 17,000 votes out of more...

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) Tuesday compared his likely primary challenger, Pat Toomey, to the AIG executives who took home big bonuses as the government was bailing out their failing company. “If you followed Mr. Toomey's ideas, you would be where the 401(k)'s are — at about half the value,” Specter said during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “When you take a look at his record, he's been contribut[ing] to the problem,” Specter said of Toomey, a former congressman and Wall Street trader. “And now he wants a promotion; he wants a bonus like those AIG guys.”

On the morning after Tuesday's historic election, two political heavyweights in Pennsylvania politics offered their take -- each from his own party's perspective. Senior senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa., top right) and governor Ed Rendell (D, bottom right) appeared before the Committee of 70's post-election breakfast to offer commentary on the presidential election. Specter conceded that Republican John McCain's White House bid was hampered by the economy and an unpopular president. He says president-elect Barack Obama is likely to reach across the aisle when he actually begins to govern:

Those of us backing Pat Toomey for the Senate have always said that it is Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the President to endorse incumbents. So Snarlin’ Arlen touting this endorsement is to be expected.But, let’s see of this RINO is truly worthy of that endorsement. The year is 2001. The 107th Congress (first session) started on January 23rd. Just two days after President Bush is sworn into office. According to the U.S. Senate official website, there were a total of 380 votes held that year. Time-wise, I have broken them out as follows: From January 23, 2001 to May...