Arlen Specter was old school.
He came from another era, and it showed.
Specter was not one to drop you an email, or a Tweet. Instead he would offer you his hand.
The longtime Pennsylvania senator knew politics was best done in person, and he reinfored that thought every time he visited our office.
Specter was never accompanied by an outlandish entourage, instead he would simply walk in the front door and greet the folks in our front offices. Yes, he would work them just as he would any political opportunity.
Invariably in the handful of times I sat down with the man, I was always struck by one thing.
Before I could get in a single question, Specter would usually beat me to the punch, and he always wanted to know one thing.
No, it was not to excoriate us for a position we had taken, or a criticism of one of his votes or infamous party switches, or even the strident grilling he would routinely receive from columnist Gil Spencer.
Instead Specter would simply inquire about how we were doing, and in particular our health - both on a personal and professional level.
Specter knew a lot about both. He faced any number of serious health issues, two bouts with cancer as well as a brain tumor. He beat them all until succuming to non-Hodgkins lymphoma early Sunday.
If nothing else, Arlen Specter was a political survivor. He knew all about the challenges we were facing in the changing news business, and he would often commiserate with us on our fate. And one other thing, Specter invariably reminded us of the importance of what we do, and how integral he believed the newspaper was to the community and the Democratic process.
He could have held a grudge; he never did.
We often poked fun of his early claim to fame, that being the author of the Warren Report’s infamous “Magic Bullet Theory” concerning the assassination of President Kenendy that allowed them to rule out any second gunman on that fateful day in Dallas, thus short-circuiting every conspiracy theory to come down the pike since.
We thoroughly filleted him for his blatant political maneuver to change parties in the wake of his key vote for the Obama stimulus plan. When his own polls told him he was not going to win a challenge in the GOP primary, Specter simply walked across the aisle and joined Democrats.
We endorsed his opponent, Joe Sestak, who went on to end Specter’s political career.
The 30-year incumbent never raised his voice to protest. We had a job to do, and he had his. No one knew that better than Specter.
The man was a throwback, something we could direly use in these days of partisan gridlock.
In interviews, Specter was always quick to lament what he viewed as the increasingly strident tone of politics. To him, serving in the Senate was an honor that carried with it a solemn pledge. He was there to do the work of the people, not further his own agenda.
It was that belief that led him to cast the deciding vote for President Obama’s economic stimulus plan, infuriating the far right in his own party and laying the seeds for the challenge that would cause him to return to his roots, as a Democrat.
As Specter pointed out, he did not leave the Republican Party, they left him.
Some saw it as the ultimate political maneuver. We were among them.
But Specter had a deep belief in voting his conscience, rather than along party lines. It was one of the trademarks of his career.
It wasn’t the first time Specter changed parties. At the dawn of his legendary political career, Specter switched parties to run for District Attorney in Philadelphia. He would be a Republican stalwart - albeit a moderate one - for the next four-plus decades.
There were setbacks along the way, both personal and professional. He lost bids for mayor in Philadelphia, governor of Pennsylvania, and president of the United States.
None of those scrapes changed Specter’s bedrock belief, voting his conscience. His grilling of Anita Hill during the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas so infuriated women he almost lost his Senate seat to Lynn Yeakel.
His consistent middle-of-the-road record riled the conservative wing of the party, and he barely fended off a GOP primary challenge from Pat Toomey in 2004.
Specter did not have much use for Republican or Democratic labels, aside from the nuts and bolts of politics and his need to get re-elected.
Specter wound up where he started, as a Democrat.
After a loss to upstart Delco Democrat Joe Sestak, I had one final conversation with Specter. In it he warned of the increasingly hostile state of American politics, the lack of civility, and more importantly the loss of the ability to compromise. His fear was that gridlock would overtake Washington, crippling any chance of getting anything done.
Specter knew how to get things done. And he usually did it in his own, inimitable way.
He was a fighter who knew when to compromise.
He was a throwback to a time when a handshake meant something, when it wasn’t simply a rote act of a politician who wanted your vote.
Make no mistake, Specter wanted your support, but it never compromised his vote. He went his own way, and his votes represented that fierce independent streak.
Specter’s last book detailed his challenge from within his own Republican Party. He titled it, “Life Among the Cannibals.”
Specter never backed away from a fight, and never veered from his own beliefs, regardless of the political cost.
Along the way, he touched a lot of lives. As Philadelphia D.A., he hired a young prosecutor named Ed Rendell. As a senator, he hired a young staffer named Pat Meehan.
I know he touched mine. Not by seeking my support, but by sticking out his hand and offering his friendship and words of support in the good times as well as the bad.
There is no place in Washington for people like Arlen Specter anymore.
‘The Cannibals’ are busy feasting.
It was one of the senator’s favorite topics, reminding us of the dangers of the shrill tone of the partisan political rhetoric that dominates politics today.
That was Specter’s real “magic bullet.” He dodged and weaved his way through more than three decades of public service, trying desperately to stick to the middle of the road.
In politics, Specter knew when to compromise. On a personal level, he knew when not to. He beat every political and personal challenge in his path, until he met one health issue he could not conquer.
And he did it all while remembeing he was there for others, not himself.
Specter was of another era. He will be missed, most certainly by me.
But more importantly, by the people of Pennsylvania and the nation who he served so well for so long.
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