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Specter Supporters
In Michigan?
The Pennsylvania senator is an
unknown in this state.
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
arlier this week, Harriet Rot-
ter, a Franklin attorney and
Republican activist, wrote a
check to the Specter for Pres-
ident Campaign.
Even if Sen. Men Specter does not
gain the backing he needs to become
a serious candidate, Ms. Rotter, a
staunch supporter of pro-choice candi-
dates, believes financially supporting
E
Harriet Rotter supports pro-choice Republicans.
the senator sends a there-are-pro-
choice-Republicans message to the
Republican Party.
With the campaigns of 1996 presi-
dential hopefuls still in their infancy,
Sen. Specter has yet to establish a base
of support in Michigan and some Re-
publicans doubt he ever will.
Many leading Republicans, includ-
ing state party officials, said they do not
know of anyone backing Sen. Specter.
"I think people are not supporting
him because he is not a serious candi-
date," said Jim Alexander, a Republi-
can activist and former chairman of the
Republican Committee of Oakland
County.
On the other hand, "we've received
several spontaneous contributions from
Michigan and the Detroit area," said
Charles Robbins, a spokesperson with
the Specter campaign. "But the fact is
we have not made a push in Michigan
and, as a result, we have
not yet generated the big-
name support."
Mr. Robbins said Sen.
Specter has not scheduled
any state appearances but
"has no intentions of
ignoring Michigan."
Last Sunday, Ms. Rot-
ter was attending a birth-
day party in Washington,
D.C., where the hostess
asked guests to consider
supporting Sen. Specter
because of his views on
abortion. "People took out
their checkbooks and im-
mediately wrote checks
for his campaign," she
said.
"It's crucial the party
understand there are tons
of us (pro-choice Republi-
cans) and we are not go-
ing anywhere, regardless
of what the leadership of
a minority group of the
party has to say," said Ms.
Rotter, who plans to contribute to the
campaign of California Gov. Pete Wil-
son, another pro-choice Republican,
should he enter the race.
"So far, Arlen Specter is the only out-
spoken pro-choice candidate, and the
fact that he is Jewish makes him doubly
appealing," Ms. Rotter said.
"It looks as though other presiden-
tial candidates are better-known, but I
remember where Jimmy Carter and
Bill Clinton were at this point in their
campaigns," she said.
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ing in the race for only about
three months, that's a pretty
good position. Gramm was at
about 9 percent, [former Ten-
nessee Gov. Lamar] Alexan-
der at about 5. So I'm satisfied
that we're making progress."
But he concedes that "there
is an issue of difficulty here,
given the fact that I am pro-
choice, and the party is ap-
parently moving in the other
direction. The others are re-
ally kowtowing to the fringe.
And they have a lot of control
over party conventions."
He expects to capitalize on
his image as a tough prose-
cutor in a political climate in
which fear of crime is a ma-
jor factor. On the campaign
trail, he is criticizing Presi-
dent Clinton as "inexperi-
enced, frequently inattentive
and even more frequently in-
decisive in foreign policy."
The Jewish
Record
Jewish voters are obvious-
ly ones that Mr. Specter
hopes to pull into his political
tent. He hopes that they will
be attracted by his war
against the Christian right
and by his long years of
pro-Israel leadership in the
Senate.
Supporters also talk about
the quiet work he has done on
behalf of Jews in the former
Soviet Union.
"From the very beginning, in the early
'70s, he was with us," said Joseph Smuk-
ler, a leader in the Soviet Jewry move-
ment in Pennsylvania. "He was
instrumental in convincing the Soviets to
let many of our people in; he went to the
Soviet Embassy personally many times
to try to get visas."
But there is a nagging question in Mr.
Specter's candidacy. Is the country ready
for a Jewish president?
One of the most intriguing aspects of
Sen. Arlen Specter's run for the Repub-
lican presidential nomination in 1996 is
that it has elicited almost no public talk
about his Jewishness.
Mr. Ginsberg of Johns Hopkins agrees
that the time may be right to break that
last barrier to full Jewish participation in
American society.
"A strong Jewish candidate would be
very much in the running," he said. "And
a Republican Jewish candidate might si-
lence some of the forces that would nor-
mally be unwilling to vote for a Jew."
Mr. Specter's own answer was more
blunt.
"Hell, yes," the candidate said. "It's time
someone like Arlen Specter tried."
Game Plan
Mr. Specter's basic strategy for winning
the nomination will be his usual one: he
plans to simply work harder than any-
body else.
"I participated with him in his 1992
campaign, which was especially ferocious,"
said former Chief of Staff Carl Feldbaum.
"He didn't turn over every rock, he turned
over every grain of sand. He went from
earliest morning to late at night. His at-
titude was, win or lose, he was going to
use every iota of energy he had. And he
has more than most; he's absolutely tire-
less."
Since throwing his figurative yarmulke
into the ring in November, Mr. Specter
has traveled to 14 states; he has raised
more than $1 million for his presidential
bid, and he has established official cam-
paign committees in New Hampshire and
Iowa.
Chuck Brooks, a former Specter aide,