From the source...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Arlen_Specter%2C_official_Senate_photo_portrait.jpg/440px-Arlen_Specter%2C_official_Senate_photo_portrait.jpg

Arlen Specter (born February 12, 1930) is the senior United States Senator from Pennsylvania. Elected in 1980, he is currently the 12th-most senior member of the U.S. Senate and the fifth oldest Senator.

Specter has been Pennsylvania's senior senator since April 4, 1991. He is known as a moderate, with conservative views on crime, national security, and Second Amendment rights, and liberal views on abortion, immigration, and the environment. In April 2006, he was selected by Time as one of "America's 10 Best Senators".

A Democrat in his youth, Specter joined the Republicans in 1966 and was a member until April 28, 2009, when he announced his switch to the Democratic Party. On March 18, 2009, he had said, "To eliminate any doubt, I am a Republican, and I am running for reelection in 2010 as a Republican on the Republican ticket," but he said in his April announcement that he was increasingly "at odds with the Republican philosophy". Prior to his party switch, Specter was the fifth most senior Republican in the Senate, and the oldest Republican Senator. He has been treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma, in 2005 and in 2008.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlen_Specter


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