Specter gets support for health reform
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
A Pennsylvania Senator on his way back to Washington to fight for healthcare reform got a friendly sendoff.
More coverage on healthcare reform.
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Supporters of Senator Arlen Specter gathered at the entrance to 30th Street Station, chanting as he walked into the crowd. They were calling for support of the public option in the fight for national healthcare, and Senator Specter vowed to take their message to Capitol Hill.
Specter: I think it highly unlikely that President Obama's going to say the public option's not viable. I think the president may say that he wants to know what congress thinks under our constitutional system and this member of congress, this united states senator is going to tell him emphatically that we need the public option.
Supporters of Senator Arlen Specter and a group of his supporters at the entrance to 30th Street Station
The supporters are part of the national coalition Health Care for America Now, made up healthcare activists and union members. They warned the senator that he needs to stay strong in the face of the heated summer meetings filled with people against the Obama plan.
I was there. I came not as a "supporter of Senator Arlen Specter", but rather as a supporter of the Public Option. I was surprised and pleased by his proclamation, " … that we need the public option".
Who knows? Maybe he is morphing into a Democrat. I'll watch to see if he morphs on the EFCA.