Arlen Specter (1930-2012)

By this time, Specter was more popular among Democrats than Republicans, and he switched parties, citing an increasingly rightward shift among the GOP that was at odds with his more moderate stance. Others, however, noted that Specter’s move was more the practicality of a career politician than an ideological stand, as he stood virtually no chance of holding off Republican challengers in the 2012 mid-term elections. As a Democrat, he voted more along party lines than he did as a Republican. Perhaps his last major vote was his support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Specter died at his home on October 14 from complications stemming from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 82. Specter had battled cancer twice before, in 2005 and 2008. Both were public battles, as underwent chemotherapy and lost his hair all while continuing to carry out the duties of his office. He had been diagnosed with cancer once again in August, but as he underwent treatment, he vowed to continue working, and to return to his office as soon as he could.

Specter died at a time when approval ratings for Congress were in a deep trough and seem unlikely to rise significantly any time soon. The public he served had grown tired of endless political fighting carried out by career politicians who often seemed more interested in serving their party, and their own re-election bids, than in serving the constituents they were elected to represent. Specter surely was not immune to this either. But in his final days, as he called for a greater willingness for both sides of the aisle to reach out to each other, he seemed to understand his constituents’ frustrations.

His readiness to vote against his own party, and ultimately to leave it (twice, no less) were the marks of a representative who stuck first to his own convictions and to those of his constituents than to a larger ideology. Perhaps if Washington and our state capitals were filled more with politicians like that, than with the ranks of the red and blue party faithful, our government would not be as dysfunctionally riven as it has been in recent years. After all, one should not seek office to serve a party. One should do it to serve the people.