I went to the Arlen Spector "No Apology" tour tonight in Doylestown, Pennsylvania where he spoke before the Executive Committee of the Bucks County Democratic Party. I was amazed at some of his responses to questions.
He was introduced by John Cordisco, Party Chair, who has helped bring back the Democratic party in Bucks County over the last six years. For a generation there were virtually no Democrats at almost every level of local government. In 2004 municipal organizations sprouted like mushrooms, motivated by Bush and with the help of Bucks Dems Johnny Appleseed, Neil Samuels, who got most of central and upper Bucks organized. This organization led not only to the election of Patrick Murphy to Congress in a very hard fought contest, but lots of local officials. In 2007, Democrats came within 1,400 votes of taking over the county government. The Obama campaign helped turn the county blue, making D’s the majority party for the first time in decades, and the margin has continued to grow.
Although this Philadelphia suburb would seem a natural for Spector, many of the folks I spoke with before this evening were not ready to jump on his bandwagon. Cordisco, a one time State legislator who ran unsuccessfully last cycle for State Treasurer and is considering a run for Lt. Governor, lauded Spector as a true "independent" who has a "lifetime of public service" although "he could have made millions in the public sector."
Spector then slowly and surely recited his record starting off with a story about running to get his father’s World War I bonus. Nothing says youth and vigor like that. Questions were collected in advance, but later he took questions from the floor. The first question was where he stands on health care reform and the public option. His response touched all the bases without actually saying anything, which set the tone for the rest of the hour. He likes Schumer’s idea of a level playing field but that Kent Conrad has some good ideas too. When asked later specifically about single payer he said he "didn’t think it was going to be that" but that there ought to be some sort of public plan.
On EFCA he did the same, listing items without telling where he stood on them. When asked again about it later, he started talking about the importance of the secret ballot and when informed that it remains, but not with the employer, he did admit that yes that was true, but did not say anything more than "you’ll be happy with my vote."
On global warming he said it was a "major problem," referenced the Bingham/Spector bill, but would only say there is "controversy" over cap and trade. On the two state solution in Israel he said we need to establish a "reasonable basis for working through the issue" but that ‘we shouldn’t tell Israel what to do." Asked about this again later from the floor he said "we have to be sensitive to their security issues."
When asked should the Bush Administration be investigated, he said yes, the Attorney General has full authority, and that no one is above the law. I think this is easy for him to say to a Democratic audience since he knows the current administration is not pushing it. When asked about a commission to investigate torture later he said the DOJ "has all the power they need to do the job."
When asked about Anita Hill, he said it was a learning experience for him. He "didn’t realize so many people were harassed" and that "harassment is hard to understand" (really). He said that the incidents had happened ten years earlier and that he sometimes can’t remember what he was arguing about with his wife ten minutes after their argument (again, he really said that).
Re: Sotomayor, he said she has ‘extraordinary qualifications" that "diversity should be represented" that "she’ll do fine" but he was making no commitments until the hearings.
He said he does support repeal of DADT but when asked about same sex marriage, he said like Bill Clinton, "his views were evolving." Asked whether, "after Franken is sworn in, can we count on you to break filibusters?’ He answered yes.
On re-regulation of the finance industry he said many of the things that have caused problems like derivatives and hedge funds have never been regulated. But when asked later about his vote to repeal Glass-Stegel, he admitted "that we made a mistake."
Out of the 25 questions or so that were asked, he answered only two or three with any type of response that could be considered definitive. One person asked how he planned to win over unconvinced Democrats, he said "by going to meetings like this one." Well is this is the best he can do, I have one word for him: PRIMARY.