Republican Trio Crosses Party Lines To Back Obama

[question everything]

Source: WSJ

McCain Response Stresses History Of Bipartisanship
By ELIZABETH HOLMES and AMY CHOZICK
August 13, 2008; Page A5

A trio of Republicans have defected from their party's likely presidential nominee and kicked off an effort to garner support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The group, called Republicans for Obama, is led by two moderate Republicans -- James Leach, a former U.S. representative from Iowa, and Lincoln Chafee, a former U.S. senator from Rhode Island -- along with Rita Hauser, a prominent fund-raiser for President George W. Bush. Their reasons for crossing party lines are diverse, ranging from the war in Iraq to overspending in Washington, and signal unhappiness not just with the candidacy of Republican Sen. John McCain, but with the Republican Party as a whole.

(snip)

One prominent moderate Republican not joining the group: Chuck Hagel, the senator from Nebraska. A representative for Sen. Hagel said he will not be joining the group, endorsing a candidate or attending either convention. Republicans responded by stressing Sen. McCain's bipartisan accomplishments. "Obama can roll out whoever he wants," said McCain adviser Nicolle Wallace. But for Sen. McCain, compromise "is in his DNA. It's who he is." Yet the departure underscores the GOP's struggle to define itself in the shadow of an unpopular president and in the wake of defeat in the 2006 midterm election.

Republicans for Obama plans to launch a Web site outlining the policy differences between the two candidates. Beyond that, it isn't clear what role Republicans for Obama will have in the general election. An Obama spokesman declined to comment on whether the three founding members would be attending the Democratic National Convention.

Each candidate has had trouble courting his party's base. Sen. Obama has angered some on the left as he has tried to take a more centrist approach to issues including the war in Iraq and increased funding for religious groups offering community service. Sen. McCain has upset religious conservatives with his stance on embryonic stem-cell research as well as a refusal to support a constitutional ban on gay marriage. As a result, both Sens. Obama and McCain have been able to woo some voters across party lines. Sen. Obama this week also received the endorsement of Jim Whitaker, the Republican mayor of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska. "My goal is to let Republicans have a clear understanding that their right to vote should not be restricted by party affiliation," Mr. Whitaker told the press.



Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121859149525535519.html (subscription)

[MadMaddie]

1. Oh this will be good...

they are peeling off one by one, they know McCain is a walking disaster.

[WhiteTara]

2. woohoo

:woohoo:

[truthisfreedom]

3. This is the one thing they feared the most... That someone would make it "okay" for

Republicans to vote for Obama.

[NBachers]

4. Maybe they can talk some sense into those Log Cabin

Republicans.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. Would that Pelosi and Conyers would do the same.

It would be nice to have those two in the Democratic Party... :evilgrin:

[Kolesar]

11. that was weak...eom

[salguine]

14. It wasn't weak. It's the truth. I'd give anything to know

just what it is that Pelosi's afraid of having come to light about herself during an impeachment proceeding...Her efforts at blocking it are so aggressive—saying she'd go ahead with it if anyone could provide evidence of any crimes the administration had committed, when the list is the size of a fucking phone book, for chrissake—that it's become obvious that she's blocking impeachment to save her own ass. She's a bigger snake than Dick Cheney—at least he never pretended to be anything other than what he is.

Cindy Sheehan just got onto the ballot in Nancy Pelosi's district, and I'm going to send her whatever money I can in order to pry Nancy's traitorous ass out of her seat and send her home. Then maybe we'll see about evidence of crimes SHE may have committed. She's not fighting against impeachment this hard for no reason.

[question everything]

18. I don't think that Sentor Obama supports impeachment, either (eom)

[Demeter]

21. Are You Sure?

Maybe we're better off without such.

[Adsos Letter]

6. Ouch!...that's gonna' leave a mark...

:D

[WCGreen]

7. And the Train picks up more steam.....

[silverojo]

8. Fuck Chuck

Hagel's about as "moderate" as Lieberman's stance on the war.

[Virginia Dare]

16. If he wants to shill for Obama, I say let him...

and any other repuke too.

[coyotespaw]

9. comprimise "is in his DNA" (about Muckain)

is it compromising, or pandering that he's doing? I thought someone had to have a set of beliefs or principles in order to compromise...

[unblock]

12. and *i* thought "compromise" was supposed to show a lack of conviction!

least that whu gee-dub learnt me!

[wpelb]

10. Don't get too excited

This is about like former Sen. Zell Miller supporting Bush in '04: hardly a surprise. Former Sen. Chafee was called a RINO by conservatives; the others are relative unknowns. Conservatives will undoubtedly be glad to see Mr. Chafee endorse Sen. Obama; they probably won't know enough about the others to have an opinion. It should be remembered that, although Sen. McCain has sided with the Bush administration on the vast majority of issues, there are some who don't believe he's "really" a conservative. Mr. Chafee's endorsement of Sen. Obama may actually strengthen Sen. McCain's standing among the Far Right.

What the net effect of all of this on the presidential race remains to be seen. My guess is that it will be negligible: a few moderate Republicans and independents will vote for Sen. Obama because of this, but they will be largely offset by a few conservative Republicans who will find it a bit easier to hold their noses and vote for Sen. McCain.

[gratuitous]

17. But won't our famously fair and balanced media . . .

Since the watchwords of our sterling media are fairness and balance, won't the talking chuckleheads spend endless hours talking about Lincoln Chafee the way they do Joe Lieberman?

Oh wait.

Yeah, the impact probably will be negligible, but won't it be nice to say "Lincoln Chafee" every time Joe Lieberman is trotted out by the McCain campaign and fawned over by the media dingbats?

[Postman]

13. Yeah but they have Zell Miller and Zell Lieberman.

n/t

[question everything]

19. Zell who? Seriously, who cares about Zell?

Where has he been in the past four years? (Zell Miller, that is).

[Maine-ah]

15. this is from the Lobster Festival parade

[question everything]

20. Wow! Can you post this photo on its own thread? Thanks (eom)