Candidates Specter and Sestak answer questions for progressive bloggers at Pittsburgh meeting

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter made his case for a sixth term in office at a convention of progressive bloggers Friday, citing his experience and his support of health-care reform.

Specter told the left-leaning Netroots Nation gathering that he should be trusted based on his record. He said he “carried the president’s message” at recent town hall-style meetings and touted his pro-choice position, his opposition to waterboarding and his vote against Robert Bork for the Supreme Court.

“Had he been there instead of Justice Kennedy, Roe v. Wade would be history,” he said.

Specter, a longtime GOP member who switched parties earlier this year, told the audience of several hundred people that he doesn’t distinguish himself as a Republican or Democrat.

Specter’s opponent in the 2010 Democratic primary, Rep. Joe Sestak, addressed the gathering separately. Each took a handful of questions from moderators and the audience and voiced similar positions in their responses.

Sestak, a former Navy vice admiral and second-term congressman from suburban Philadelphia, brushed aside a question about how he could compete against Specter’s experience and contacts. He said that when he travels around the state, the question isn’t who he knows and who endorsed him, rather it’s, “What are you going to do for me and my daughter who’s lost her health care?”

Specter was asked what he would do to counter the lies about health- care reform coming from his former party — in particular, a comment by Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican and a lead negotiator on health-care legislation.

Grassley told constituents at a community meeting last week, “We should not have a government program that determines you’re going to pull the plug on grandma.”

Specter said Grassley was wrong and that he would call him, prompting someone in audience to demand Specter call him immediately. Specter said he would after he was finished. (The senator’s staff said he did call Grassley but had to leave a message.)

Specter said end-of-life counseling was not a “death squad. It is a sensible position,” he said.

Both candidates said the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays and the federal Defense of Marriage Act ought to be done away with. And they said they supported congressional representation for Washington, D.C.

Both also said they supported climate-change legislation — Specter misspeaking slightly and saying “I support climate change.”

Sestak said he wished the House energy bill was stronger.