Arlen Specter

(Getty Images) Arlen Specter is running for another term in the U.S. Senate, but he brought down the house at a Pittsburgh-area comedy club. The Pennsylvania Democrat headlined a benefit comedy show at the Pittsburgh Improv in nearby Homestead on Thursday night. The event was organized by the Allegheny County Department of Human Services and raised $32,000 to benefit the county's Music Festival Fund for children. Among Specter's jokes was this one: "I came down to breakfast the other day, and I told my wife that I shaved and felt 10 years younger. She said, 'Why didn't you shave last night?'" Specter also poked ... Read Full Story

President Barack Obama urged Pennsylvania voters on Tuesday to support the re-election bid of Sen. Arlen Specter in a personal appearance here for the Republican-turned-Democrat who represents an important test of the White House's political apparatus. Facing a potential primary challenge, Specter, a longtime Republican, switched political parties in April, giving Democrats a valuable 60-vote majority in the Senate. The White House immediately said it would help Specter defend his seat, starting with a fundraiser Tuesday that was expected to raise $2.5 million. "Arlen's not someone who came to Washington to fight for a particular ideology. He came to fight for the working men ... Read Full Story

Specter Suggests Changes to Union Bill KRIS MAHER Sen. Arlen Specter is floating two compromise proposals on a contentious union-organizing bill to gauge the business community's willingness to accept the changes and find a middle ground on the bill, according to people familiar with the discussions. Associated Press Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter has suggested two possible compromises on the Employee Free Choice Act. Business groups were quick to shoot down his proposals, in a sign of how difficult it will be to reach agreement on legislation that makes it easier to organize workers. "We continue to stand in support of the right of workers ... Read Full Story

Conservative activists are vowing to keep up their fight against President Barack Obama's health care plans, even as the Democratic Party pushes back hard, accusing Republicans of organizing angry mobs. Democrats and the White House are claiming that the sometimes rowdy protests that have disrupted Democratic lawmakers' meetings and health care events around the country are largely orchestrated from afar by insurers, lobbyists, Republican Party activists and others. "This mob activity is straight from the playbook of high-level Republican political operatives," the Democratic National Committee says in a new Web video. "They have no plan for moving our country forward, so they've called out ... Read Full Story

Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter will likely face a formal challenge in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary. Rep. Joe Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral serving his second term in Congress, has scheduled five campaign stops throughout the state on Tuesday. At the first, at a VFW hall in Folsom, Pa., in his suburban Philadelphia district, he's expected to announce his candidacy. The announcement would not be a surprise. Sestak, 57, has already heavily campaigned in the state. The five-term Specter severed his decades-long ties in April with the Republican Party. He said, in part, it was to avoid a primary challenge from former Rep. Pat Toomey, ... Read Full Story