U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-MA. said just because President Barack Obama has thrown his support behind Sen. Arlen Specter to be the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate does not mean other Democrats have to follow suit.

On Monday, Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, endorsed U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-PA., the former Navy admiral and highest-ranking military officer serving in Congress.

Frank said that Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Gov. Ed Rendell induced Specter to switch parties in April, a move Frank said was done for political expediency. But just because the Democrats needed Specter’s 60th and deciding vote on the stimulus package and on subsequent votes on issues like health care does not guarantee Specter support from other Democrats.

“There was an inducement for Arlen Specter to change parties, but that doesn’t bind the rest of us,” Frank said during a press conference in Philadelphia Monday.

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Tags: Joe Sestak

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