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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On Sunday talk shows, he says the 'big tent' party of Reagan and the late Jack Kemp has been replaced by rigid conservatism.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....

79 year old five term Pennsylvania traitor Arlen Specter is the first casualty of the 2010 house cleaning. Never in US history, has the anti-incumbent sentiment been so broad and deep among frustrated American patriots who still believe in Life, Liberty and the Right to individually define and pursue Happiness. Ninety-nine days of the second most unpopular administration in US history, was all the people were willing to endure. The clarion call for real patriotic "change" has come from Main Street America, and the Tax Day Tea Parties have forced the first faux Republican out of their party. After years...

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.

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.

(CNN) — Conservative host Rush Limbaugh said Tuesday he isn't sorry to see Arlen Specter leave the GOP — and that many Republicans wish the Pennsylvania senator would take a few others with him when he goes. "A lot of people say, 'Well, Specter, take [Sen. John] McCain with you. And his daughter [Meghan]. Take McCain and his daughter with you if you're gonna…" he told listeners, dissolving in laughter. "…..It's ultimately good. You're weeding out people who aren't really Republicans," he said.

"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...

Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Arlen Specter badly trails primary challenger Patrick J. Toomey, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll 13 months before GOP voters will choose their Senate nominee. The survey, taken of 490 likely Republican voters on April 21, had Toomey leading Specter by 21 percentage points, 51 percent to 30 percent. Forty-two percent of respondents said that they had either a "very favorable" or "somewhat favorable" impression of Specter, compared to 55 percent of Republicans who said they had "somewhat unfavorable" or "very unfavorable" feelings about the senator. The comparable numbers for Toomey, a former House member from Pennsylvania's...

Sen. Arlen Specter on Tuesday said that former Rep. Pat Toomey is too conservative to win a general election race in Pennsylvania, claiming his likely primary opponent "is to the right of Rick Santorum." During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, Specter (R-Pa.) provided a preview of his strategy against Toomey. Specter said Toomey fought for deregulation, embraced private accounts in Social Security and, if nominated, would lose the general election and allow Democrats to pass so-called card-check legislation favored by organized labor. Specter said Toomey is "to the right" of former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), adding, "Santorum lost...

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...