Arlen Specter
From Conservapedia
Arlen Specter is the senior United States Senator from Pennsylvania. He was first elected in 1980, and has been reelected five times since then. Senator Specter is widely regarded as a moderate Republican, disagreeing with the Bush Administration on numerous issues. He is a US Air Force veteran, serving during the Korean War.
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Political career
Despite being a life-long Democrat, Specter was elected District Attorney in Philadelphia as a Republican in 1965. He mounted an unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Philadelphia in 1967 and was defeated for reelection to a third term as district attorney in 1973. He was defeated in the 1976 Republican Primary for U.S. Senate by John Heinz and in the 1978 primary for Governor of Pennsylvania by Dick Thornburgh. Arlen Specter was elected to the Senate in 1980 and is currently serving his fifth term. In 2005, Senator Specter became Pennsylvania's longest serving U.S. Senator. He is Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and a senior member of the Appropriations and Veterans Affairs committees. Specter also made an abortive bid for the Republican nomination in the 1996 presidential race, before withdrawing and endorsing future nominee Bob Dole.
Political views
Specter's moderate views have affected his political career as a Republican. For example, his status as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (a position he held from January, 2005 through January, 2007) was in question when he made comments hinting that he would oppose candidates who would overturn Roe v. Wade. In addition, in the 2004 Republican Senate Primary Election, he only received 51% of the vote when the conservative Patrick Toomey challenged him. However, in the 2004 General Election, he succeeded with ease, beating Joseph Hoeffel by nine percentage points, suggesting that the Pennsylvania electorate prefers moderate to conservative Republicans.
Health Problems
On February 16, 2005, Specter announced that he had been diagnosed with an advanced form of Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer. Despite the advanced form, Specter continued working during chemotherapy. He ended treatment on July 22. Senator John Sununu shaved his head to show solidarity with Specter when he was undergoing chemotherapy and was temporarily bald.
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