Campaigns
"Professionally, I have demonstrated a pattern of swimming upstream – an exhilarating experience. The tougher the battle, the sweeter the victory. The key factor is to keep working and keep fighting." (Never Give In, 245)
Arlen Specter had a long political career, most of which was spent as a Pennsylvania Senator. First elected in 1980, he served until he was eighty years old in 2011. His journey to the Senate began in 1976, when he ran in the Pennsylvania Republican primaries against John Heinz. Due to the recent Buckley v. Valeo ruling, Heinz was able to run his campaign with virtually unlimited funding, and Specter, unable to bring the same support to his own campaign, lost the nomination. Two years later, he decided to run for governor instead, but lost the Republican nomination to Dick Thornburgh.
In 1980, he set his sights back on the Senate and defeated Harold Haabestad to enter the general election against Pete Flaherty. He created what he called the “67 Club,” where he visited every one of the sixty-seven counties in Pennsylvania to garner support. The popularity he gained from that, along with the financial backing of former rival Sen. Heinz, allowed Specter to narrowly defeat Flaherty for the Senate seat. Upon his election, he chose to sit on the Appropriations Committee and the Judiciary Committee, two areas that would define much of his career.
Specter faced his first senatorial re-election race in 1986. Dick Thornburgh threatened to run against him in the primaries, but Specter continued unopposed to the general election where he faced Democratic nominee Bob Edgar. During this campaign, a reporter told Specter that the White House claimed that President Reagan would not fundraise for him if he did not vote for the MX missile. Outraged that the media was trying to frame him as someone who bought support, he debated voting against the missile. In the end, he voted for the missile, as he had always intended, and announced that he would not allow President Reagan to campaign for him. By showing that he stood for his principles and campaigned fairly, he was able to beat Edgar and keep his seat.
During his second term, Specter faced two big controversies. First, in 1987, he broke party lines and voted against Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Second, he harshly interrogated Anita Hill in 1991 when she came forth with accusations against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. On top of his harsh treatment of Hill, Specter also voted for Thomas, which lost him favor with women. Despite the fact that Specter had alienated most of his electorate between these two issues, he still ran for re-election in 1992. He defeated Steve Freind in the primary, but faced a difficult opponent in Lynn Yeakel for the general election. Yeakel used Specter’s controversial choices against him in her campaign ads and gained a lot of support, especially from women. However, instead of retaliating, Shanin Specter advised his father to run a careful campaign and let Yeakel make mistakes. With less campaigning experience than Specter, she did indeed make costly blunders, costing her the victory.
Halfway through his third term in Senate, Specter found himself unhappy with the direction President Clinton was taking the country through legislation like the Economic Recovery Act of 1993 and the Health Security Act. Though he knew it was a long shot, he decided to throw his hat in the ring and run for President in 1996. Voters criticized him a number of issues, including his stance as a pro-choice Republican, and he suspended his campaign in November 1995.
After his failed presidential campaign, Specter faced a number of health issues. A tumor he had gotten removed from his brain in 1993 returned in late 1996, necessitating a gamma knife procedure to remove it. In 1998, doctors found that two of his heart vessels had severely narrowed, and he underwent an emergency double bypass surgery. Though the surgery was successful, he developed several complications, including pneumonia, during his recovery. Determined to recover and return to his Senate duties, though, Specter was in full health by November 1998 for the election. He only faced a general election against Bill Lloyd that year, and easily won to retain his seat.
When the election of 2004 rolled around, Specter still had a lot he wanted to accomplish in the Senate. He was next in line to take over for the retiring Orrin Hatch as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and he was eager to add his voice to pro-choice legislation. However, he faced an uphill battle, as Pennsylvania had never elected a Senator for a fifth term, and some constituents were becoming unhappy with his centrist voting record. Pat Toomey, his opponent in the primaries, portrayed him as a liberal and tried to sway Republican opinion against him. The race was so close that some of Specter’s staff began to say their goodbyes to each other, but in the end Specter secured a narrow victory. The general campaign set him up against Joe Hoeffel, a Democrat with drastically different views on the Iraqi war. Despite Specter’s close primary race, however, he defeated Hoeffel by a larger margin and celebrated his approaching fifth Senate term.
2010
At the age of eighty, Specter knew that the 2010 Senate election would most likely be his last, regardless of the outcome. Throughout his fifth term, he had continued to vote against Republican party lines, most notably when supporting the Obama stimulus bill. It appeared that he would not have enough support from Pennsylvania Republicans to win the primary against Toomey again. This worry, paired with his increasing disapproval of the George W. Bush’s and other Republicans’ exceedingly conservative actions, played a part in his decision to join the Democratic Party for the election. While he wholeheartedly believed in his change, having originally been a Democrat before ever running for Senate, the media was critical of him and speculated he might change again if it was in his favor. He led the polls at the beginning of the Democratic primary race, but ultimately lost the nomination to Joe Sestak. Though his career in the Senate had ended, Specter stood by all of his choices and remained proud of the lasting changes he brought to the United States Government.
After losing the 1976 Senate race to Senator Heinz following the new Buckley v. Valeo ruling, Specter petitioned supporters for funding, even in places as far away as Israel.
Specter’s opponent in the 1992 general election, Lynn Yeakel, used Specter’s handling of the Anita Hill issue to garner support from women.
Specter with his family, celebrating a 1992 campaign victory.
In this speech, Specter announced his campaign for President of the United States and outlined his goals for the presidency.
Specter and supporters at a 1996 presidential campaign event.
Specter at a press event during his last successful Senate campaign in 2004.
