How the Specter era ended

Michael Smerconish: How the Specter Era ended
5.20,10
By Michael Smerconish - Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Opinion Columnist

THE octogenarian didn't keep pace with the times.

That's no reflection on Arlen Specter's eight decades. To the contrary, he's proven himself to be in tune with the modern era - whether it's his dress, conversance about sports, currency on the issues or awareness of technology (perhaps owing to his four granddaughters).

No, in the end, it wasn't Specter's years that caught up with him, but rather the political era.

The current political climate doesn't have room for an Arlen Specter. He doesn't fit in an ideologically driven dynamic. Unfortunately for the man whose memoir was titled "Passion for Truth," there's no passion in the political middle. And that's what did him in. His political independence is a square peg trying to fit into a round hole of extremes.

That's one major reason that he lost despite the endorsement of President Obama, Vice President Biden, the entire state Democratic establishment and all the major newspapers in the commonwealth.

The second is the obvious anti-incumbent tidal wave sweeping the country. Specter once asked now-Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts whether Roe v. Wade represented a "superprecedent." Well, with three decades of representation in the U.S. Senate, Specter was a superincumbent. And that, coupled with his nonadherence to the rigidity demanded of Republicans and Democrats in their respective primaries, did him in.

I saw Specter repeatedly on Tuesday. At one point, he reminded me that he'd run in 15 competitive elections, six decided by three points or less. This one, unlike the others, was, in retrospect, never winnable. Still, on election night, I thought it would be another nail-biter. But little more than an hour after the polls closed, it was clear that wouldn't be the case.

There was just too much red in the room. I don't mean red state/blue state. I'm referring to a computer screen.
The most important item in the Specter war room at the Sheraton was the laptop providing the senator, his family, and closest advisers with a real-time recap of what was transpiring across the state. A spreadsheet showed all 67 counties, the vote in each, and whether Specter's share was keeping pace with a computer model that showed what he needed for victory.

A percentage representing the yield was reflected in either red or blue on the far right side of the screen. Red meant the senator wasn't keeping pace, blue that he was on target.

From the moment the first returns came in, the computer screen was on fire. "We're looking at an early night," Shanin Specter told me at about 9:15, before corralling his father for the type of conversation no son wants to have with a parent.

SOON after, Specter ducked into a hallway to call Joe Sestak. When he returned, he informed a small group that the Associated Press had just called the race for Sestak, and that his own projections indicated the same. With a stiff upper lip, striding toward the ballroom that housed the national media, I heard him say, "No regrets."

Listen to Michael Smerconish weekdays 5-9 a.m. on the Big Talker, 1210/AM. Read him Sundays in the Inquirer. Contact him via the Web at www.smerconish.com.