ONE TOUGH HOMBRE
I knew it when Trump said it .. Obama has called someone an "hombre" saved on Way Back
Wonder if someone is switching sides D to R
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2009/04/30/President-welcomes-one-tough-hombre-to-his-party/stories/200904300378
President welcomes 'one tough hombre' to his party
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette logo
TIMOTHY MCNULTY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
APR 30, 2009 3:00 AM
A "thrilled" President Barack Obama welcomed Sen. Arlen Specter into the White House and the Democratic Party yesterday, calling him "one tough hombre" who will counsel his administration on health care reform and its other priorities.
Mr. Obama was referring to the 79-year-old's two bouts with cancer, but could have been talking about his Ginsu knife-sharp political survival skills. Mr. Specter shocked Pennsylvania and the Capitol Tuesday when he announced he was becoming a Democrat, giving him better odds of winning a sixth term and drawing Mr. Obama's party within one vote of the 60 needed for Senate control.
Speaking alongside Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the White House Diplomatic Room, the ex-Republican put his sleight of hand on full display.
"I have not represented the Republican Party; I have represented the people of Pennsylvania. And I will continue to do just that. As I said yesterday, I will not be an automatic 60th vote," Mr. Specter said.
"I do think, Mr. President, that I can be of assistance. You have projected an administration that I feel very comfortable with."
Mr. Specter's announcement reverberated through the other early Republican and Democratic campaigns for his Senate seat. Leading Republican Pat Toomey, who lost the primary by only two points to Mr. Specter in 2004, signaled yesterday that he will be using the incumbent's survival tactics against him in a possible general election campaign.
Flipping sides is now such a part of the Specter story between parties, for and against union-supported "card-check" legislation that "a central question will be whether Mr. Specter can be trusted on anything," Mr. Toomey wrote in the Washington Times.
U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Delaware County, a possible opponent for the Democratic nomination, said much the same thing Tuesday on MSNBC. "Is that the type of individual we want to take us forward?" he asked. The only official Democratic candidate, National Constitution Center President Joe Torsella, has said he is remaining in the race.
The Republican hold on the state is fading fast, according to a new study released yesterday by the Pew Research Center, underscoring why Mr. Specter jumped parties. When he last ran in 2004, 38 percent of Pennsylvanians said they were Democrats and 34 percent said Republican. This year, the Democratic number is unchanged but only 27 percent said they were Republicans – giving Democrats an 11 point advantage.
The switch means both of Pennsylvania's U.S. senators will be Democrats for the first time since 1946, according to Congressional Quarterly, when Joseph F. Guffey and Francis J. Myers served together.
Mr. Specter should have the clear upper hand in the road to the Democratic nomination, if only through the support of Mr. Obama and Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who released his first statement on Mr. Specter's switch yesterday.
"I welcome Sen. Specter to the Democratic Party. He is a strong leader who has done great work on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania regardless of their political affiliation. … Today's Pennsylvania Republican party is a far cry from the party of John Heinz, Hugh Scott and Governors Bill Scranton and Tom Ridge," he said.
First Published April 30, 2009, 3:00am