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Frank Endorses Sestak for Specters Seat

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President Barack Obama, Senate majority leader Harry Reid, and Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell may well have endorsed recent Democratic convert senator Arlen Specter for his 2010 reelection bid in the Keystone State, but that didn't hold much sway with Rep. Barney Frank, who threw his support behind Rep. Joe Sestak for the seat Monday.

"They needed him to be that 60th vote, so they made that deal so he would vote for health care," Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said of Specter. "But I didn't make that deal. The voters of Pennsylvania didn't make that deal."

Frank said there's "no question" that Sestak has a chance of defeating Specter in next year's Democratic primary and cited his support for overturning "don't ask, don't tell" as one of the key reasons for his endorsement.

"He was an admiral; he spent 31 years in the Navy," Frank said. "He has better military credentials than anyone serving in the Congress. He's got a credibility on this that is unmatched, and he's in the best position to say this is nonsense."

Sestak's camp is touting October polling by Rasmussen Reports that put the within four points of Specter, 46%-42%. And a Franklin & Marshall College poll in October found that Specter's approval ratings among voters had dipped to just 28%, down from 48% in March.

Frank even suggested that if Specter is the Democratic nominee, the seat could go to Republicans in the general election: "The polls are showing that Arlen Specter would have a harder time winning in November than Sestak, and we could lose the seat to a right-winger."

Specter, who willingly admitted that he switched parties earlier this year because his reelection chances as a Republican were dismal, matches up pretty evenly with Sestak on LGBT issues. Both support passing a transgender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and repealing DADT and the Defense of Marriage Act. (Although Specter originally voted for DOMA in 1996, he announced his support for full repeal earlier this year.) Specter, however, is a cosponsor of the Senate's Uniting American Families Act, a bill that would grant same-sex partners immigration rights; Sestak has not cosponsored companion legislation in the House.

But Sestak, who is trying to capture the imagination of progressives, charged that Specter's stances on issues ranging from LGBT equality to supporting the public option in health reform might be motivated by political expediency.

"Is he taking a position based on merit or principle or commitment, or is he taking them, as I think he is, because of personal convenience because of an impending election?" Sestak said.

However, Sestak may run into his own problem wooing the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party when it comes to his support for sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Although he said he knew that backing greater involvement in the region could be problematic, he added, "I would not deserve to be a senator if I did not say honestly -- something that would present a little difficulty in an election -- what I believe."

Sestak has vocally pushed for action for on repealing "don't ask, don't tell" before the end of this calendar year, but he acknowledged the chances are now slim at this late date.

But he said the nation could no longer afford to lose people like Arabic linguist Lt. Dan Choi, who faced discharge this year after he came out on The Rachel Maddow Show.

"It's the military that will benefit by having equal rights," he said. "I've fought with women in combat, African-Americans -- when I first joined up for the Vietnam War there were race riots that we would have in our aircraft carriers. We worked through them."

Asked whether the military ban has a chance of being repealed if it does not happen in 2010, Sestak responded, "If we don't do it next year, I would have real questions about the commitment of our leadership and the Party that I'm in."

Sestak did not seek out Frank's support, but rather, the Massachusetts Democrat approached him twice to offer his help.

Though many Democrats may be hesitant to publicly support Sestak given Specter's backing by the commander in chief, don't be surprised to see a few more people come forth next year.

"There are others who are interested," Sestak said, "who are no longer a part of the establishment but have been noted in politics, and have told me they would like to come forward after the first of the year."

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