Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, who died Sunday at age 82, won state residents’ confidence during his 30 years in Congress’ upper chamber by his willingness to fight for what he deemed right, even if it meant voting against his political-party leadership.

More of that is needed in Washington now — a time when the Nation’s Capital is more polarized than it has been in dec-ades.

The current Congress has rightly earned designation as a do-nothing Congress hellbent on unbending partisanship, more than anything else — whose only immediate hope for change rests with the Nov. 6 general election.

Congress consistently stymies opportunities for getting important work done because of most lawmakers’ unwillingness to compromise and their fear of the ramifications for breaking with their party leaders.

That wasn’t the case with Specter, Pennsylvania’s longest-serving senator. He wasn’t reluctant to vote against his fellow Republicans, the party to which he belonged during most of his Senate career, including during the Obama presidency.

He provided key votes on behalf of Obama’s Affordable Care Act and the president’s economic stimulus bill, angering his GOP colleagues and his party’s voters.

Specter often — and rightly — lamented the disappearance of moderates who had the courage to buck party leadership, and during a short-lived run for president in 1995 he warned fellow Republicans of the “intolerant right,” a view that would not sit well in today’s Congress.

The lack of bipartisanship is Congress’ biggest roadblock to getting things done. Yet most voters, whether they acknowledge it or not, actually desire bipartisanship if they want effective government.

Not all of the instances of Specter crossing party lines involved being true to his convictions. He also used the tactic of voting against GOP leadership to help causes he believed in.

One instance was in 2001 when he voted for Republican President George W. Bush’s tax-cut package, but sided with Democrats to designate $450 billion for education and debt reduction.

Specter was one of the last of the moderates in Congress. A recent study of congres- sional polarization conducted by a University of Georgia professor found that the Republican and Democratic parties are more divided now than at any time since Reconstruction, after drifting apart over the last 40 years.

Many voters likely will opt not to go to the polls next month because of their frustration with government and their lack of confidence that anything will change, regardless of who wins.

“Statesmanship” hardly is a word synonymous with anyone in the current Congress but perhaps Specter, by virtue of his long service and rejection of partisanship, merits that title. Even while battling cancer, he worked incessantly on behalf of America’s best interests, on both the domestic and foreign fronts.

While state residents may have differing opinions of Specter being a “statesman,” few can dispute former governor Ed Rendell’s observation that Specter was a master politician.

Neither the Republican Party nor Democratic Party has all the right answers for the nation’s ills, and Specter was well aware of that — and lived that fact by way of his Senate service.