Specter draws fire from right on stimulus

As one of the Republicans who helped ensure Senate passage of President Obama's economic-stimulus legislation, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter finds himself in a familiar place: conservatives' doghouse.

The Senate approved an $838 billion version of the bill yesterday, after Specter and two fellow Republicans, Sens. Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, crossed the aisle to support it and block a potential filibuster.

They were the only Republican "yes" votes, and many conservatives considered supporting the legislation apostasy. It is wasteful, laden with pork-barrel spending that won't help the economy, and will only bequeath more debt to coming generations, they say.

Some in the Pennsylvania GOP are already murmuring about a conservative challenge to Specter, who has said he will run for reelection next year.

"Pennsylvania voters are fed up with Specter's perennial charade," said Glen Meakem, a Pittsburgh entrepreneur and radio talk-show host. "He poses as a moderate-conservative Republican, and instead he's voting with the liberal special interests. We can't tolerate that; we've got to hold him accountable."

One of the longest-serving moderates in the Senate, Specter has often infuriated people on both ends of the ideological spectrum, but the right wing of the GOP has had a particular problem with him. Six years ago, Specter barely survived a challenge for the Republican nomination from then-Rep. Pat Toomey of the Lehigh Valley, who now heads the conservative Club for Growth.

"This bill grows government . . . and Sen. Specter has significantly increased the chances that he'll have a tough primary now," Toomey said, adding that rank-and-file activists at last weekend's Republican State Committee meeting were "livid."

Toomey is exploring a run for governor next year, so he is unlikely to take up the fight. Meakem, a multimillionaire, said he would be part of an effort to recruit a conservative Senate candidate, and declined to comment when asked whether he was interested in running himself.

"There will be a primary fight," Meakem said.

After negotiating a compromise that trimmed $110 billion from the legislation late Friday, Specter told reporters that he realized he was flirting with danger. He is the only one of the GOP senators involved who faces imminent reelection.

"Those thoughts have not escaped my attention," he said. "I believe that my duty is to follow my conscience and vote what I think is in the best interest of the country. And the political risks will have to abide."

On the other hand, political analysts note, Specter's position as a swing vote could give him a great deal of leverage with the White House going forward. Already, Democrats are praising him, Snowe and Collins as modern profiles in courage; the liberal Americans United for Change is running radio ads thanking them.

"Every economist in the country says we need a stimulus bill," Gov. Rendell said yesterday. "And there's no place for ideology here. If the ideologues are angry, let them talk to the economists. They shouldn't be coming down on Sen. Specter."

A narrow majority of Americans, 51 percent, favor the plan, which has lost support over the last month, according to a poll released yesterday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Opinion has also become more politically polarized, the survey indicated. Sixty-three percent of Republicans think the plan is a bad idea, up 20 percentage points in the last month. But 70 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independents support it.

Before he can get to the general election, Specter will face a Republican primary electorate in the state that is shrinking and, polls indicate, is becoming more conservative. Thousands of moderate Republicans, particularly in Specter's geographic base in Southeastern Pennsylvania, have registered as Democrats in recent years and won't be able to vote for him in the primary unless they register again.

On the other hand, some Republican-oriented business groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce, are backing the stimulus plan, so he will have some support in the party for his stand.

But many conservatives are also closely watching Specter's position on another looming priority - so-called card-check legislation that would allow unions to win the right to represent workers by soliciting signatures rather than by a secret ballot. Unions are pushing the measure to help reverse decades of dwindling membership; business groups are opposed.

Specter, who voted to bring the measure to the floor for debate in the last Congress, has said he was undecided. Conservative groups consider opposition to the bill a litmus test.

"I don't think he can vote the wrong way on the stimulus and on card check and survive," said Mark Harris, a conservative political consultant in the Pittsburgh area, who organized students for Toomey in 2004. "It would hand any challenger, even a third-rate challenger, two big bullets."

On Saturday, the Republican State Committee approved a resolution urging members of Congress to vote "no" on the union legislation; an earlier version singled out Specter.

"Arlen Specter has been on the rail his whole career, but conservatives still need to find a credible and well-funded candidate in order to beat him," said pollster Terry Madonna of Franklin & Marshall College. "He is the Houdini of Pennsylvania politics."