U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter stopped by York County Democratic headquarters for about an hour this afternoon.
I found it kind of disorienting. I was talking to Democratic County Commissioner Doug Hoke before Specter showed up. Hoke mentioned that it would be his first time meeting Specter in person.
At first I thought -- What? Specter's been in York plenty of times! Then I realized that Hoke never met him because Specter had always showed up at Republican functions in the past.
Specter, of course, changed his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in April. Today was his first meeting with local Democrats as a colleague.
The appearance itself was no big deal. Specter will probably face a challenge in next spring's primary and almost certainly face one in next year's general election. In advance of all that, he's apparently making his way around the state to meet with party members and let them meet him. It's called "solidifying the base."
About 30 people were at Democratic camapign headquarters in downtown York to hear Specter speak and ask him questions afterward. It all took less than an hour.
Everyone I spoke to said they supported him, which I expected. But in light of his longtime career as a Republican and his recent grilling of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, I expectedmore of them to express their support through gritted teeth.
The impression I took away, however, is that a lot of the people their honestly liked him. I certainly saw more support for him than I've seen at local Republican gatherings in recent years, where a lot of people derided him as a RINO, or "Republican in Name Only."
I got to talk to him for a little while afterward. As I;ve mentioned in a previous post, Specter isn;t one of these politicians who radiates charm. Under his sometime dour demeanor, however, he does have a really dry sense of humor.
When asked about competition in the primary, Specter referred to "one person who's made an announcement of his intent to announce repeatedly." That was an apparent reference to U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who appears to be gunning for Specter in the primary, but has yet to announce his campaign.
During the beginning of his remarks, Specter said something I found interesting. Me mentioned that his father was among the World War I veterans who marched on Washington, D.C., in 1932 to seek payment for their Service Certificates. U.S. Army troops fired on them.
"In a sense, I've been on my way to Washington ever since to get my father's bonus," Specter said. "I haven't gotten it yet, so I'm running for re-election."
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