The fundamental purpose of government is to protect its citizens.

He was however able to gain support. However on April 28 2009 Specter stated that "As the Republican Party has moved farther and farther to the right I have found myself increasingly at odds with the Republican philosophy and more in line with the philosophy of the Democratic Party. Although a supporter of capital punishment as prosecutor he questioned the fairness of the Pennsylvania death penalty statute in 1972.

Specter was born in Wichita Kansas to emigrant Russian Jewish parents. First elected in 1980 he represented his state for 30 years in the Senate. S.