http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120641048754261255.html?mod=googlenews_wsjA Conservative Endorses Obama
Barack Obama's speech on race relations played well in many
circles and helped secure him the endorsement of New Mexico
Gov. Bill Richardson last Friday. On Sunday, Mr. Obama was
also endorsed by a lesser-known but more surprising figure --
a constitutional law professor who headed the Office of Legal
Counsel for both Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.
Doug Kmiec is a respected professor at Pepperdine Law School,
where Ken Starr serves as dean. He certainly hasn't shown much
previous inclination towards political apostasy -- earlier
this month he was still serving as co-chair of the Mitt Romney
campaign's Committee on the Courts and the Constitution.
Mr. Kmiec made his endorsement known in a blog posting on Slate.com
so he clearly wasn't looking for too big a splash. But while he is
unlikely to be joined by a posse of other Reaganites, his reasoning
deserves some attention.
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The original SLATE posting:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/convictions/archive/2008/03/23/endorsing-obama.aspxEndorsing Obama
Today I endorse Barack Obama for president of the United States.
I believe him to be a person of integrity, intelligence, and genuine
good will. I take him at his word that he wants to move the nation
beyond its religious and racial divides and that he wants to return
the United States to that company of nations committed to human
rights. I do not know if his earlier life experience is sufficient
for the challenges of the presidency that lie ahead. I doubt we know
this about any of the men or women we might select. It likely depends
upon the serendipity of the events that cannot be foreseen. I do have
confidence that the senator will cast his net widely in search of men
and women of diverse, open-minded views and of superior intellectual
qualities to assist him in the wide range of responsibilities that he
must superintend.
This endorsement may be of little note or consequence, except perhaps
that it comes from an unlikely source: namely, a former constitutional
legal counsel to two Republican presidents. The endorsement will likely
supply no strategic advantage equivalent to that represented by the very
helpful accolades the senator has received from many of high stature
and accomplishment, including most recently, from Gov. Bill Richardson.
Nevertheless, it is important to be said publicly in a public forum in
order that it be understood. It is not arrived at without careful
thought and some difficulty.
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