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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter Dies at 82

Arlen Specter, former Pa. senator, dies at 82 - Washington Times

 Former Senator Arlen Specter

Former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter has died at his home in Philadelphia from complications of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  He was 82.  He died a week ago.  He was a former liberal Republican who turned Democrat in 2009 two months after he and two other Republican Senators voted for Mr. Obama's economic stimulus package.  The veteran Senator from Pennsylvania was first elected as a Republican to the Senate in 1980.  Many consider him as a voice of "moderation" in the Senate, but he was liberal on many issues.  He was very supportive of the U.S. Supreme Court case, Roe vs. Wade.  Even though he was liberal, he did help defend Justice Clarence Thomas when he was before the U.S. Senate in 1991 to replace the retiring justice Thurgood Marshall.  In 2010 Specter ran against former Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestak and lost to him in the primary.  If Specter remained Republican, he more than likely would've lost to now Senator Pat Toomey in the GOP primary. 

To read the full story about Arlen Specter, click on the above link from WashingtonTimes.com.

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