Specter a vet too

Timothy McNulty | August 10, 2009

Here's CQ with some perspective on Sestak's endorsement this morning from Vote Vets:

VoteVets.org has endorsed Rep. Joe Sestak, a retired admiral, in his Pennsylvania Senate primary challenge to Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter, a Korean War-era Air Force veteran and former chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee who is seeking a sixth term.

Expect Specter to get hit for voting to authorize the use of military force in Iraq and for not attending Veterans Affairs Committee meetings when he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which dealt with three Supreme Court nominations.

"Arlen Specter is George Bush and Dick Cheney on foreign policy," VoteVets Chairman Jon Soltz says by way of explaining the endorsement.

But don't expect Specter to cede any ground on allegiance to the nation's veterans. His campaign Web site lists a litany of his efforts on behalf of men and women who have served in uniform.

One of his legislative wins, the "Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004" increased compensation for disabled veterans and the families of dead service members, as well as boosting benefits under the GI bill and providing for housing assistance.

The organization, which bills itself as progressive and claims 105,000 members, spent $180,500 on endorsed candidates in the 2007-2008 election cycle. All but $13,000 went to Democrats, except for three Republican critics of the Iraq war -- Rep. Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, then-Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and then-Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest of Maryland.