(Jacob Turcotte)
“Republicans for Obama” launches Tuesday
By Jimmy Orr | 08.12.08
Even though the man is on vacation, the news from the Obama campaign keeps on coming.
It’s common for a campaign to announce the formation of a group from the opposing party banding together to support their candidate.
And it always makes for good press because it appears counter-intuitive. “How can people from the same party endorse the other candidate? Their own party’s candidate must be horrible!”
That’s the game. Make it appear that one candidate is so awful that people who would normally pledge allegiance are jumping overboard.
It happens every campaign. Perhaps you remember Democrats for Bush four years ago. Or Republicans for Kerry. Here’s a gem – still on the web and looking its age, an old Republicans for Bill Clinton site. And a campaign can always get press out of it – especially if there are prominent individuals involved.
It happened again this morning. And as Ben Smith over at Politico astutely points out, the timing isn’t so surprising either:
One of the challenges of the week for Chicago is finding a way to control the news cycle without the candidate. Today’s answer: “Republicans for Obama.”
Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach, former Bush foreign policy advisor Rita Hauser, and former US Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island announced their support of Obama and the formation of “Republicans for Obama.”
The group, which according to one website seems to already exist, announced they will launch a new website this week.
Why jump the party line?
Chafee, in the morning conference call announcing the group, said McCain just wasn’t the same old McCain anymore:
“I served with McCain and we were the only two Republicans to vote against the Bush tax cuts,” said Chafee, referring to a Senate vote in 2001. “He says now he would make them permanent. It’s a different John McCain.”
But what about the point that Chafee isn’t a Republican anymore? He switched parties earlier this year to vote for Obama in his state’s presidential primary.
“Until I voted for Sen. Obama, I had never voted for a Democrat so I think my Republican credentials are sincere,” Chaffee said.
As for Leach, the former Congressman said it was time for a change.
“Barack Obama’s platform is a call for change,” said Leach. “But the change that he so gracefully articulating is more renewal than departure.”
Over on the McCain team they sensed a different kind of irony. Campaign spokesperson Taylor Griffin emailed this response:
“It’s ironic that Barack Obama, who has the most liberal voting record in the U.S. Senate, would be reaching out to Republicans. His policies and his record, while they may be popular with liberals, are out of step with Republicans and with mainstream America.”
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2. Robert | 08.12.08
Tioedong–you wrote “check how many dislike support for Israel.” What’s wrong with questioning our support for Israel? We’ll never be seen as an honest broker in the MidEast process until we’re no longer seen as being in Israel’s pocket.
3. Leah | 08.12.08
Not all Catholics are single-issue voters, and those who are still don’t need to vote for McCain (who isn’t as pro-life as he purports to be.)The Constitution Party candidate, Chuck Baldwin, is the popular choice for Catholics who really wish to vote their consciences.
Some pro-life folks of various faiths see quite clearly that abortion is an issue being used by the right to distract them from other matters that have a great deal to do with being truly pro-life. I suspect the GOP doesn’t want to end legal abortion any time soon — it’s too handy as a divisive issue.
Maybe in this election Americans will see it’s not out of the mainstream to vote in accord with a full range of social justice issues (labor’s right to organize, a minimum wage that’s closer to a living wage, humane treatment of immigrants, higher taxes for the overly-advantaged, regulation of corporations), or even to identify oneself as “liberal.”
4. Mike | 08.13.08
Response to Robert,
Wake up please, Who gives a hoot if the terrorist supporting nations and the
code Pink whako Liberals think we are in Israel’s pocket!!! Israel is the ONLY stable nation in the mid-east!!! God Bless the U.S.A. and Israel!!!!!
Or would you prefer we show such defferance to Hamas, Syria, Iran,etc….
5. Jeremiah | 08.13.08
“We’ll never be seen as an honest broker in the MidEast process until we’re no longer seen as being in Israel’s pocket.” And maybe when the other middle eastern countries learn to play nice and call off their threats of a second holocaust, while supporting terrorists that lob rockets at Israeli citizens, then we can give a darn about them. Until then, they deserve every last American made bomb thats dropped their way by Israel. Besides, we get just as much benefit from Israel; they bombed Syria’s nuclear facility, they bombed Saddam’s as well, and now it looks like they might deal with ole’ Ahmadinejad.
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. Tioedong | 08.12.08
The country club Republicans for Obama? Yes, but check how many dislike support for Israel.
Yes, it makes news. But what’s not in the news:
Obama’s pro abortion record (including opposing a bill in the Illinois Senate to mandate basic medical care for born babies, a bill supported by NARL) isn’t being covered….the NYTimes article by Broder mentions it, but a cross over vote by Catholic Democrats could be huge…but alas will be contributed to “racism”.