By Alex Roarty
PoliticsPA Staff Writer
roarty@politicspa.com

Senator Arlen Specter said Tuesday that he now supports using reconciliation to approve health care legislation because he says he’s discovered lawmakers have used the procedural move many times in the past.

But although he thinks the Senate now has a “really good chance” to approve the health care bill, he called inclusion of the “so-called” public option in it a “longshot.”

Late last week Specter, like more than 20 other Democratic senators, signed a letter supporting the use of reconciliation to pass a health care bill that included the public option, a liberal favorite. The move seemed like a reversal from his position last year, when he held out against subverting a Republican filibuster.

But on an afternoon conference call with bloggers, the senator said “research has disclosed there are many occasions where reconciliation has been used in analogous circumstances,” citing passage of COBRA, S-Chip, and welfare reform bills. He has a list showing 22 examples of both parties using the tactic, he said.

“I have (supported reconciliation) after taking a look at the precedents and seeing that it has been used very, very broadly,” Specter said.

He defended himself against criticism he had reversed positions, saying congress’ inability to approve any legislation forced him to support reconciliation.

“Even at the time of the expression of reservation I said it would be a last, last resort,” Specter said. “Well, since that time we have spent a whole year on this issue. This country is in urgent need of health care reform … insurance reforms are vastly overdue. I think we just have to move ahead and be able to govern.”

Specter will still almost certainly face criticism over his support from his two opponents, Democrat U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and Republican former Congressman Pat Toomey. The former head of Club for Growth has mocked what he calls Specter and Sestak‘s “race to the left,” while Sestak has argued to primary voters that they can’t trust Specter to vote with their interests once he doesn‘t face an election opponent.

The senator said despite the criticism of the health care bill, the American people want to see the government take action on a major issue. He said many of them “won’t really understand the technicalities and the nuances” of using reconciliation.

Still, the public option will not likely be part of the final bill, Specter said, despite his support. Many members of the Democratic Caucus don’t support the measure, he said, making its passage difficult.

Health care negotiations nearly fell apart in January when U.S. Senator Scott Brown stunningly won election in Massachusetts, a victory that in weeks would end Democrats super-majority control of the Senate. The loss meant Democrats no longer had the 60 votes necessary to end Republican filibusters, unless they used reconciliation rules to turn bill passage into a simple majority.