Medal Ceremony

Spirit in '76: Specter (left) with media consultant Elliott Curson.

by Mary F. Patel

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter understands that discretion is the better part of valor. So the new chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who is beset from the left and right since conservatives overlooked his moderate record in appointing him, stuck to safe topics at the Philadelphia Bar Association's (PBA) luncheon last Monday. He did not reveal how he will wield his gavel. PBA presented Philadelphia lawyer Specter with its prestigious Bar Medal at the Loews Hotel in front of a house packed with legal luminaries.

Specter was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma last February and is undergoing treatment. He has lost his hair to chemotherapy and joked about his appearance.

"I look in the mirror and I don't know who I am. I'm a victim of identity theft," he said. "But the treatments are going fine and I've maintained the responsibilities of the job. I've beaten a brain tumor, beaten bypass surgery and I've beaten a lot of tough political opponents, and I'm going to beat this too."

Specter, 75, is a scrappy political survivor. He was elected as the city's district attorney in 1965 and, in 1976, lost the Republican primary for U.S. Senate to Pittsburgh condiment magnate John Heinz by 26,000 votes after a campaign in which he was outspent 10-to-one. Specter successfully ran for his U.S. Senate seat in 1980 and is now serving his fifth term. In 1995, he didn't muster enough support for a run at the presidency and, three years later, wrote a 14,000-word essay on why President Bill Clinton should not be impeached.

At the luncheon, Specter touched on the controversial topic of stem cell research, of which he's been an advocate since 1998.

"That's a prominent issue for 110 million Americans who could benefit from these embryonic cells which can renew life," he said. "In 1970, President [Richard] Nixon declared a war on cancer and if we had spent as much money on that war as we spent on other wars, at least by the year 2004, they would have found a way to prevent Hodgkin's lymphoma cancer."

He also touched on judicial nominations, which involve his current committee.

"It is an honor to make recommendations and to shepherd those judges through the process," he said. "Someone asked me if that is my legacy. Well, it's too early in my career to have a legacy. There are a lot more things to do. But, if I had to choose between the federal judges I help recommend and the single-bullet theory, I'll take the single-bullet theory."

Much attention has been paid to whether the conservative U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who is suffering from thyroid cancer, will step down. Specter said he thought Rehnquist looked remarkably well and doesn't think his retirement is imminent.

Specter is a centrist who is able to appeal to both liberals and conservatives, although he suffered a bruising primary battle last year against the archconservative Patrick Toomey. Many liberal Democrats switched their party affiliation to vote for Specter in last year's GOP primary so he could beat Toomey. Now that Specter is supporting U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, many of those liberals are mad at him. Specter owes Santorum because when Specter needed staunch Republican votes to win against Democrat Joe Hoeffel in the general election, Santorum and President George W. Bush delivered.

PBA chancellor Andrew Chirls chose Specter to receive the Bar Medal because of his achievements in the Senate. But as an openly gay man, what does Chirls think about Specter helping Santorum?

Chirls explained that the Bar Medal is not political and that he made the decision in the capacity of his office and not based on his personal life.

"I'm not giving him the medal because he is supporting Santorum," said Chirls, "and I'm not taking it away because he's supporting him either."

Chirls himself was honored last week at the Greater Philadelphia Professional Network's (GPPN) first annual Pride Community awards at Twenty 21.

Thom Cardwell, volunteer president of GPPN (and executive director of the Philadelphia Film Society), said Chirls was chosen for his contribution as a gay professional and role model to the GLBT local and national communities.

"It is important to recognize individuals in our GLBT community who have contributed to the health, well-being, betterment and advancement of our rights and our lives," Cardwell said. "Andy was an easy but most appropriate choice for a GPPN award."