For some, Specter's shift was no big deal

Out on the Main Line, the afternoon commuter crowd at the Bryn Mawr station yesterday tended to greet Sen. Arlen Specter's change of political parties as a change of labels rather than a sharp break for a politician the state has known well for decades.

"He's probably at heart a Democrat, and I feel he probably voted with the Republican Party reluctantly over the last eight years," said David Behrend, 67, of Bryn Mawr.

As Behrend, a career consultant, waited in his car for his wife's train to arrive, he said he was likely to vote for Specter's reelection, as he had been before Specter announced yesterday that he was switching to the Democratic Party.

"He's done a lot for Pennsylvania," Behrend said, "and there's the fact that he showed some guts, along with the two Maine senators, about the stimulus vote" - a reference to Specter's being one of only three Republicans in the Senate to back the measure.

Opinions about Specter, at least among Behrend and others around the station, were set years ago – whether positive or negative.

"I haven't liked Specter in a long time, since he went after President Clinton," said Rick Sapovits, 53, of Exton, a school food-services director, while waiting for a train. "I wasn't going to vote for him anyway, no matter what party he was in. That just gives the Republican candidate another vote this time, I think."

Likewise, Jennifer Vrooman, 37, of Narberth, said her ideas about Specter were entrenched, so much so that she expects to break her habit of voting Democratic when she encounters Specter's name on the Senate line.

"He's pretty much voted the wrong way for me every single time," said Vrooman, who works for an insurance company. "I won't be voting for anybody."

Among travelers who recalled Specter's Philadelphia roots, the switch stirred memories of Specter's very public move to the Republican Party in the 1960s.

"He's really just been a closeted Democrat," said Otto Meadows, 70, a safety officer at Harcum College in Bryn Mawr.

Meadows said he believed Specter would end up taking the same positions he took as a Republican office-holder for the most part.

"He's more for the little guy than he is for the big corporations," Meadows said, "regardless of his label."

Political beliefs – or even party affiliations – are not the only considerations for voters.

Elizabeth Cochran, 56, a bass player from Wayne and a Democrat, said she had crossed party lines to vote for Specter but probably would not support him again. Specter's age, 79, is more an issue at this point than his well-known views, she said.

"I don't care what party he's in," Cochran said.

Then there were those who regarded Specter's maneuver as opportunism.

"He's a career politician," said Pat Wilkins, 53, of Philadelphia, a receptionist at Bryn Mawr College. "I lost faith in him a long time ago."