Specter defends himself against Sestak ads

Arlen Specter says he could have gone the easy route.

The U.S. senator, seeking a sixth six-year term in Tuesday's Democratic primary election, said he could have remained in the Republican Party, voted against President Obama's $787 billion stimulus package and then coasted with ease to re-election.

Instead, Specter provided one of three Republican votes to pass the legislation in February 2009. Two months later, he left the GOP to run as a Democrat.

Specter, who was endorsed by the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity yesterday, complained about a campaign ad being run by his primary rival, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, which shows Specter saying his party change would enable his re-election.

"If I had stayed with the obstructionist Republican caucus, I would have had no problem," Specter said. "This claim of opportunism is outlandish in the context that I had a clear path to re-election if I had not voted for the stimulus package."

Specter was surrounded by the city's Democratic establishment - Gov. Rendell, Mayor Nutter, District Attorney Seth Williams, state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams - who urged voters here to show up for Tuesday's primary.

Rendell also blasted as offensive the Sestak ad that says Specter switched parties "to save one job ... his." Rendell said the state lists 20,558 people working on stimulus-related projects.

"He wasn't thinking about saving his job," Rendell said of Specter. "He was risking his job."

Sestak, campaigning at 52nd and Market streets later in the day, claimed the economic collapse occurred in part because Specter and others in Washington supported the economic and tax policies put in place during President George W. Bush's two terms.

"What a shame that we had to have an economic-stimulus bill." Sestak said. "If he hadn't done those things, we never would have needed an economic-stimulus bill."

Sestak noted that Specter went negative with ads first - attacking his record in the U.S. Navy, his attendance record for votes in the U.S. House and for the wages he pays his campaign staffers.

Sestak said he wasn't sure if strong voter turnout in the city would help or hurt him Tuesday.

"I think a large turnout is healthy for the electoral process," he said. "That's what matters."

In a Daily News/Franklin & Marshall Poll released Wednesday, Specter led 38 percent to 29 percent over Sestak among all registered Democrats statewide.

Sestak led 38 percent to 36 percent when that group was narrowed to those most likely to vote. The poll also found Specter and Sestak in a virtual tie in this region, with one-third of those polled undecided.

The presumptive Republican nominee, former U.S. Rep. Pat Toomey, holds a slight lead over both in a potential November showdown, but within the margin of error, according to the poll.

"The city of Philadelphia is key and the African-American vote is key," Specter said. "The clergy has committed to take this message forward in the last few days of this campaign to urge their parishioners to come out and vote."

A visit from Obama would certainly spark voter interest here. That is not planned, though Specter said he wasn't disappointed.

"He's done everything I asked," said Specter, who is running TV ads with Obama praising him. "We've gotten terrific support from the White House."

Vice President Joe Biden, visiting Pittsburgh yesterday, told the Associated Press that he wished Sestak had not challenged Specter. Biden said Specter's vote was vital for the stimulus package.

Bush appeared at a rally for Specter in Pittsburgh, one week before he narrowly defeated Toomey in the 2004 GOP primary. Sestak is using video of that rally in his anti-Specter campaign ads.