niedbala@observer-reporter.com
Since his last visit to Greene and Washington counties in August, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter has changed not only his appearance but also his party affiliation.
The last time the senator visited the area he was bald, the effects of the chemotherapy he had undergone for a recurrence of Hodgkin's disease. And Specter was also a Republican.
Specter has been able to regrow most of his hair, and he is now a Democrat, after making a much-talked-about party switch a little more than two months ago.
Speaking on Friday to about 50 people at Rohanna's Restaurant near Waynesburg, and later to about 75 Democrats at the Holiday Inn, Meadow Lands, in North Strabane Township, Specter said for years he had been urged by friends to change parties because of the many times he sided with Democrats on issues.
After voting for the $787 billion economic stimulus package, Specter said, "I found there were almost as many Republicans urging me to become a Democrat as there were Democrats urging me to become a Democrat."
Specter said he knew his vote would rankle Republicans, "but I just wasn't going to stand for the obstructionists" of the GOP.
Specter, 79, switched parties in April, saying he found himself "at odds" with the current Republican philosophy. Polls at the time showed Republican challenger Pat Toomey with a double-digit lead against Specter, who is up for re-election in 2010.
At both locations, he talked extensively and took questions on the Employee Free Choice Act, which would require the National Labor Relations Board to certify a union without a secret ballot election if a majority of employees sign union membership cards.
Specter said he co-sponsored the bill in 2005, though he is not in favor of all its provisions. Employees need a "level playing field" in getting union certification and in negotiating a first contract, he said.
"Unions aren't getting a fair shake today, and the law ought to be changed," he said. Citing an example, Specter noted that currently employers can meet with employees to talk them out of joining a union, but the union has no similar access to the workers.
In both Waynesburg and North Strabane, Specter also discussed the clean energy bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that includes a "cap and trade" system on emissions, saying he is "very much concerned" about its impact on the coal industry.
Asked about what can be done to create jobs, Specter said the stimulus bill was aimed at making up for lost jobs, "but it's a tough proposition and it takes time," he said. "The question is what more can you do. If we hadn't (approved a stimulus bill) it would be a lot worse."
As to whether another stimulus package is needed, especially in the wake of rising unemployment numbers, Specter said he'd "be willing to consider it" but would have to consider its impact on the federal budget. Specter said the deficit has remained "very much in mind."
"You have to spend money in the long run to make people healthier and also to put people back to work, but the national debt is humongous, we all know that."
Specter is gearing up to seek a sixth term in the U.S. Senate next year. He has the support of heavyweights like President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Gov. Ed Rendell, but will likely face a primary fight with U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a Philadelphia-area congressman who has said he intends to enter the race.
Greg Leathers, chairman of the Greene County Democratic Committee, said he doubted Specter would have a problem in his re-election bid.
"He's always been a friend of the working man," Leathers said, citing Specter's support of an increased minimum wage and his past endorsement by the AFL-CIO.
Specter has always done well with Democrats in Pennsylvania, Leathers added.
Lisa Makovsky, a South Strabane Township resident, said she will support Specter based on how hard he works to make a "public option" part of a health-care reform package.
"I'm supporting the Democrat that supports Barack Obama and particularly a health-care bill that has a public option."
Staff writer Brad Hundt contributed to this report.