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Arlen Specter Credit: Maya Spitzer

Sen. Arlen Specter emphasized his ideological ties to President Barack Obama at a town hall meeting on campus this past Friday.

“When I cast the vote for the stimulus package, I joined the Obama team,” Specter said. “President Obama is the captain of the team.”

Specter, who is running for reelection in 2010, fielded 20 questions from students in Houston Hall, several of whom asked about his decision to switch party allegiance from Republican to Democrat in April.

“People said to me, ‘You vote like a Democrat, you think like a Democrat, why don’t you become a Democrat?’” Specter replied. “I have a long record of independence, [and] the Republican Party did not approve of my voting.”

Among the topics he discussed were the war and election in Afghanistan, the threat Iran poses in the Middle East, Obama’s recently-announced Nobel peace prize and climate change.

Applause broke out when he said giving Penn more money for medical research would have been higher on his list of priorities for the stimulus package.

“There’s nothing more important than medical research,” he said. “Over the past decade, Penn has gotten over $4 billion for medical research.”

On health care, Specter criticized the “wasting [of] a lot of money through Medicaid and Medicare fraud” and “the lack of bipartisanship” in the reform process.

“It was a good dialogue,” said College junior Colin Kavanaugh, Southeast Pennsylvania Coordinator of Students for Arlen Specter and former Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer. “Penn students are smart and they came prepared … I thought they were tough.”

Audience members were given a surprise when Specter entered the town hall meeting with Earvin “Magic” Johnson, legendary point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers.

The two had happened to meet on the street just before the event, and Johnson decided to come along to introduce and endorse the Senator.

“This young man is a person who really cares about America,” Johnson said of Specter. “I only hope to do half as much as he’s done.”

The town hall meeting was organized by the Penn Democrats and held at the Hall of Flags in Houston Hall.

Specter’s challenger in the Democratic primary, Rep. Joe Sestak, had come to Penn Dems with the offer to debate the senator on Friday afternoon, according to Penn Dems President Jordan Levine.

Specter’s campaign refused because “they said they didn’t want the event to be political,” Levine said.

“Our members really wanted to be exposed to both candidates,” Levine said. “[But] I was afraid that [Specter] might pull out” if the organization invited Sestak.

Levine said Penn Dems will not endorse a candidate until next year.

An Oct. 1 Quinnipiac University poll found that Specter leads Sestak in the polls 44 percent to 25 percent.

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