Sen. Arlen Specter thinks Lynn Swann has the potential to be a formidable candidate for governor among Pennsylvania's black voters. First, however, the former Steelers wide receiver needs to get a firmer grasp on the issues. Then he needs to loosen up.
"His race could be a very strong factor, but not in a shirt and tie," Mr. Specter, a fellow Republican, said yesterday. "Have him go into the community and get his hands dirty."
In a meeting with the Post-Gazette's editorial board, the five-term senator said he is supporting Mr. Swann's campaign to unseat Gov. Ed Rendell. He then offered some unsolicited advice to the gubernatorial candidate, a relative political newcomer who has stumbled on some policy questions in the past, including during a high-profile February interview on ABC with George Stephanopoulos.
Mr. Specter said Mr. Swann must become "conversant" in the topics that matter to black communities, such as job training, education, and the criminal justice system, and start talking about them in the state's major urban areas, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
By doing that, Mr. Swann likely could attract support from both black voters and white liberal voters, the senator said.
In other words, run as a Democrat -- that's worked for Specter.
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