U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter today predicted that Sen. John McCain would run a competitive race in Pennsylvania in the November general election, calling Mr. McCain's rising political fortunes a sign that voters are eager to support moderate candidates.

"I think that's what the voters of Pennsylvania like," Mr. Specter, R-Pa., told reporters after taking a tour of PPG Industries' Springdale plant.

Mr. Specter and Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican and his party's presumptive presidential nominee, are known for taking positions that sometimes run counter to GOP dogma. Yet Mr. Specter, first elected in 1980, lamented that the number of independent-minded lawmakers -- he cited the late Sen. John Heinz, another Pennsylvania Republican, as an example -- in Congress has declined during his tenure on the Hill.

That, he argues, has increased the partisan rancor in American politics.

"Today, the moderates in the Senate can meet in a telephone booth," he said. "There really is more of a need for moderates to come back."

Mr. Specter declined to say which Democrat, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama, he would rather see Mr. McCain face in November.

"I vowed not to interfere in the Democratic primary," Mr. Specter said.