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Frank endorses Sestak as ‘one of the most valuable members of Congress’

Frank endorses Sestak as ‘one of the most valuable members of Congress’

PHILADELPHIA—Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mas.) formally endorsed Joe Sestak’s Senate bid Monday morning, becoming the first member of Congress to break with the White House and party leaders in Sestak’s primary challenge to Senator Arlen Specter.

“I regard Joe as one of the most valuable members of Congress,” Frank said during an appearance with Sestak at a downtown law office here. “His military background is of great importance because getting our military policy [and] spending right is essential.”

Combined with a later endorsement from an army Lieutenant who was discharged under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, the support of Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, was clearly meant to showcase Sestak’s credentials on gay rights at a time when Specter has moved quickly to the left on such issues.

Frank said Sestak’s military background gives him an authoritative voice in the debate over the military’s current policy.

“Right now, we have people who have never been in the military pontificating on that,” Frank said. “As a vice admiral, Joe is in a position to refute their arguments.”

And while he refrained from speculating what effect his endorsement might have on the gay community, Frank criticized Specter for being “a Republican by choice, and a Democrat by necessity—the necessity to get elected.”

As chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank made sure to emphasize pocketbook issues, too.

“His role on the small business committee is particularly important,” Frank said of Sestak. “Small businesses have taken the brunt of this recession.”

December 7, 2009 at 1:35 pm

--Donald Hoegg

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  1. David Diano

    Dec 7th, 2009

    “I regard Joe as one of the most valuable members of Congress,”
    Translation: Joe’s in the top 435

    “Frank said Sestak’s military background gives him an authoritative voice in the debate over the military’s current policy.”

    However, Frank is AGAINST the new surge, and Sestak is not only FOR the surge but against Obama’s timetable and wants us in for 3-5 years.

    It looks like Frank is eager to use Sestak on DADT (which is a basic civil rights issue, not a military issue), but isn’t swayed by Sestak’s “authoritative voice” on a real military issue like the surge.

    Frank has little influence in PA, and this early endorsement will fade into obscurity.

  2. Matt S.

    Dec 8th, 2009

    More to that, I’m not sure what Barney Frank deems valuable. What I mean is Sestak has one of the worst voting records in Pennsylvania. If you consider how long he’s been in office then he has THE worst. He’s missed about 6% of his votes which admittedly seems small but its towards the higher end of the average of the 19 representatives sitting today in PA. Presently he’s missed about 180 votes. His record is more inline with those that have been serving for a decade or more; Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady.
    He can pin medals to his chest all he wants but he’s not an admiral anymore, he’s a congressman. That’s the job he needs to do.
    All of this info is available at Govtrack.us

  3. David Diano

    Dec 8th, 2009

    Matt-
    Maybe Barney meant to say “vulnerable” instead of “valuable”.

    Govtrack.us IS AWESOME:
    Check out their analysis of Sestak:
    “Sestak is a follower according to our statistical analysis of bills in this legislative session. Sestak tends to cosponsors the bills of other Members of Congress who do not cosponsor Sestak’s own bills.”

    http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=412232

    Sestak’s leadership score is about 5 out of 100. Yikes!

    This shows what I’ve suspected all along. Sestak’s not really a leader, but rather someone who has been put in charge of things and been able to give orders by virtue of his rank/position as a boss. This is different from true leadership where people follow you because they think you have the best ideas (not because they HAVE to).
    Sestak is quite good at crafting a strong image that will initially attract some followers, but his unusually attrition rate for staff, further demonstrates his lack of true leadership.

    One wonders how many of his navy staffers would have quit, had they not been in the middle of the ocean or if “The Caine Mutiny” was the most popular rental. :-)

    Let’s look at GovTrack’s analysis of Specter:
    “Specter is somewhere between a leader and a follower. Specter sponsors others’ bills and other Members of Congress cosponsor Specter’s bills.”
    Specter’s leadership has varied between 60 and 100, out of 100, for the past 20 years.

    “Specter is a moderate Democrat according to GovTrack’s own analysis of bill sponsorship.”

    http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300092

    On voting:
    Arlen Specter missed 231 (3%) of 7073 votes since Jan 25, 1989.

    Joe Sestak missed 180 of 2771 roll call votes (6%) since Jan 4, 2007.

  5. Jackie Treehorn

    Dec 8th, 2009

    This is a great example of Dumb and Dumber.

  6. aln

    Dec 8th, 2009

    Barney Franks endorsement isn’t really an endorsement. It’s more of an indictment.

  7. charlie

    Mar 11th, 2010

    charlie murhpy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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