GOP4OBAMA.ORG

About the Blog Author

gop4obama.org — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:28:00 GMT

This a photo of a relative of mine, on the Hanks side.

I'm a lawyer, but not that tall. I'm from Illinois, and have practiced in some of the same courthouses in which Abraham Lincoln practiced. I have pride in my Lincoln heritage, pride in my Country, and pride in what the Party of Lincoln once stood for.

The GOP, under the Bush /Cheney/Rove and now McCain/Rove/Palin regime, has corrupted and will further corrupt the GOP, and in doing so, further erode the principles of this Country so cherished and practiced by Lincoln himself.

Thus, Let's bring America back to its greatness, its sense of pride, and its moral and intellectual role as a world leader. Barack Obama has in him the moral and intellectual DNA of Lincoln, and I am one centrist Republican supporting the Obama / Biden ticket. I expect there to be millions more come election day.

http://www.palinbycomparison.net

Leach, Chafee, Hauser and the Party of Lincoln

gop4obama.org — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:25:00 GMT

The Obama campaign hopes to attract hundreds of thousands of Republicans to support the Democratic candidate in November, said three GOPers who hosted a conference call this morning.

The three Republicans -- former Iowa Rep. Jim Leach (who formally endorsed Obama recently), former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, and former White House intelligence advisor Rita E. Hauser -- announced the formation of "Republicans for Obama," which will launch a Web site in the coming days that will be a clearinghouse of information for Republicans who want to learn more about the Illinois Democrat. The site will highlight the differences between Obama and McCain on the issues and let them know where they can go to see the candidate and how they can help in his election effort.

"From my perspective, this is simply not a time for politics as usual," said Leach, arguing that the portfolio of issues that will be passed on to the next president would be as daunting as any since World War II and would therefore require "inspiring, new, political leadership" and the kind of change he believes Obama's platform offers.

Leach, Chafee, and Hauser cited the presidential hopeful's approach to foreign policy and to the economy as reasons for supporting him over McCain, saying the Arizona senator would continue Bush Administration policies -- from the war in Iraq to an unwillingness to engage enemies in direct diplomacy -- that have hurt America's standing in the world and its financial stability.

Chafee said “we’ve seen our credibility shattered” over the last eight years. Added Leach: “The prospect that we’ll have more of the same -- that is the source of angst of many Republicans around the country."

Hauser also pointed to the difference between the two candidates' response to the conflict between Russia and Georgia as evidence of the need for a new kind of foreign policy. She said McCain's statements had indicated a bellicose and confrontational approach to dealing with Russia, while Obama had focused more on involving world organizations and working towards reconciliation.

Leach and Hauser both alluded to a McCain campaign theme of "putting country first" to explain why they had split with their party to support Obama, with Leach saying he and thousands of Republicans would be choosing "country over party in this election" -- and Hauser saying that while it was hard to walk away from her party's nominee she had to "put country first."

Republicans for Obama a Return to Traditional GOP Values

gop4obama.org — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:23:00 GMT

In June the McCain campaign released a list of "prominent Democrats and Independents" supporting John McCain. Few of the names were prominent, and a review by the Huffington Post found that more than half of the list had "either obvious ties to the Republican Party or are regularly touted by GOP politicians as Democratic defectors."

The newly announced group of "Republicans for Obama" hope to have a more lasting impact. They certainly have a higher profile than McCain's Democratic defectors (other than top surrogate and possible veep Joe Lieberman). Organizers on a conference call this morning included former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee and Rita Hauser, a member of President Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. The Republican Mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska also endorsed Barack Obama today. (There's an already existing Republicans for Obama website founded by John Martin, a Navy reservist who served in Afghanistan and lives in The Bronx.)

These so-called "Obamicans" -- throwbacks to the days of traditional Republicanism -- are disgusted by the Bush Administration's militant foreign policy, reckless spending and cronyism at home, and America's plummeting reputation in the world. In John McCain, they no longer see a maverick, but a continuation of the Bush-Cheney era.

"From my perspective, this is simply not a time for politics as usual," said Jim Leach, one of the smartest and most decent members of the House of Representatives, who represented eastern Iowa for three decades until 2006 and was one of only six House Republicans to presciently oppose the war in Iraq. "The case for inspiring, new political leadership and a social ethic has seldom been more self-evident."

Adds Leach: "Barack Obama's platform is a call for change. But the change that he is so gracefully articulating is more renewal than departure. While a break from the ideological policies of the moment, it is rooted in very old American values that are as much a part of the Republican as the Democratic tradition. There's an emphasis on individual rights, fairness and balance at home, and progressive internationalism."

Says Rita Hauser, "It is not traditional Republicanism to make war on everybody who disagree with you." The longtime foreign policy hand called McCain's response to the Russia-Georgia conflict "bellicose [and] threatening."

Like Leach, Lincoln Chafee is a reminder of the days when moderates could find a home in the Republican Party as advocates for fiscal responsibility, environmental protection and restraint in foreign policy. Chafee left the Republican Party in March to vote for Obama in Rhode Island's Democratic primary. He was the first Democrat Chafee had ever voted for.

Chafee served alongside McCain in the Senate; they were the only two Senate Republicans to oppose the Bush tax cuts in 2001. Chafee has since watched McCain adopt the very policies he once denounced. "Seeing the two different John McCain's is a fracture in his credibility," Chafee says.

How big of an impact this group will have remains to be seen. Obama performed well in traditionally Republican areas in the Democratic primary and attracted legions of "Obamicans" in swing areas like Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Yet partisanship has hardened since the primary has ended (usually the opposite occurs), with both Obama and McCain now drawing 90 percent support from self-identified members of their parties.

Both candidates have attempted to encroach on the other party's turf. McCain has made a bid for disaffected Clintonites, and elderly and blue-collar Democrats. Obama has courted moderate and suburban Republicans in swing states like Virginia and libertarians out West. It only takes a few points here or there to alter the election.

Credit: Ali Berman
The Nation.