See more Republican-Conservative cross-overs for
Obama.
Wall
Street Journal
Prominent
Republicans Line-Up
Behind Obama
Susan Davis reports on the presidential race. October
24, 2008, 11:49 am
Since Colin
Powell
crossed party lines to endorse Barack Obama last
Sunday, a steady
stream of prominent Republicans have endorsed the
Illinois senator over
rival John McCain.
Former
Massachusetts
Gov. William Weld is endorsing Obama today
at a press
conference in Salem, N.H. Weld was a public supporter
of Mitt Romney in
the Republican primaries. In a statement, Weld called
Obama a
“once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our
politics and
restore America’s standing in the world.”
On Thursday, former Minnesota
Gov. Arne Carlson endorsed Obama at the state
capitol. “I think
we have in Barack Obama the clear possibility of a
truly great
president,” he said. “I would contend that it’s the
most important
election of my lifetime.”
Scott
McClellan, a
former spokesman for President George W. Bush, also
endorsed Obama
Thursday. USA Today reported that McClellan told CNN
in a taping to be
aired this weekend that Obama has “the best chance of
changing the way
Washington works.”
Ken Adelman,
a
prominent conservative on foreign policy matters
announced his support
for Obama on Tuesday, telling the New Yorker that his
decision was
based on temperament and judgment.
Adelman called McCain “impetuous, inconsistent, and
imprudent; ending
up just plain weird” in his handling of the U.S.
economic crisis. He
also was unsettled by McCain’s choice of running mate.
“Not only is
Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high
office—I would not
have hired her for even a mid-level post in the
arms-control agency,”
Adelman wrote.
Republicans
and Conservatives
Endorsing Barack
Fri, 10/17/2008 - 12:45am — John Martin
As we wait for (Chuck) Hagel's
endorsement, here's a recap of some of the biggest
Republicans,
Republicans-turned-independents, and conservatives who
have come out to
support Barack for President.
Elected Officials:
Jim Leach,
Former Congressman from Iowa
"For me, the national interest comes before party
concerns,
particularly internationally. We do need a new
direction in
American policy, and Obama has a sense of that."
Lincoln
Chafee,
Former United States Senator from Rhode Island
"As I look at the candidates in order who to vote for,
certainly my
kind of conservatism was reflected with Senator Obama,
and those points
are that we're fiscally conservative, we care about
revenues matching
expenditures, we also care about the environment, I
think it's a
traditional conservative value to care about clean air
and clean
water."
Wayne
Gilchrest,
Congressman from Maryland
"We can't use four more years of the same kind of
policy that's
somewhat haphazard, which leads to recklessness."
Richard
Riordan,
Former Mayor of Los Angeles
"I'm still a Republican, but I still will always vote
for the person
who I think will do the best job."
Lowell
Weicker,
Former Governor and Senator from Connecticut
"At issue is not the partisan politics of two parties,
rather the image
we have of ourselves as Americans. Senator Obama
brings wisdom,
kindness, and common sense to what is both his and our
quest for a
better America."
Jim
Whitaker, Fairbanks,
Alaska Mayor
"If we are as a nation concerned with energy, then our
consideration
should be a national energy policy that is not
predicated on crude oil
50 years into the future. We need to get to it,
and I think
Barack Obama is very clear in that regard."
Linwood
Holton,
Former Governor of Virginia
"Obama has a brain, and he isn't afraid to use it."
Douglas
Kmiec, Head
of the Office of Legal Counsel under Reagan & Bush
41
"I was first attracted to government by Ronald Reagan,
who lives in our
national memory as a great leader and an inspiring
communicator.
Senator Obama has these gifts as well, but of course,
more rhetorical
flourish without substance would be worth
little. Is there more
to Senator Obama? I believe there is."
Jackson M.
Andrews,
Republican Counsel to the U.S. Senate
"Barack Obama is a thoughtful visionary leader who as
President will
end the decline of American law, liberty, and fiscal
responsibility
that are the hallmarks of the extremist policies of
the current
Administration, now adopted by John
McCain."
Susan
Eisenhower, Granddaughter
of President Eisenhower & President of the
Eisenhower Group
"Given Obama's support among young people, I believe
that he will be
most invested in defending the interests of these
rising generations
and, therefore, the long-term interests of this nation
as a whole."
Francis
Fukuyama,
Advisor to President Reagan
"...Obama probably has the greatest promise of
delivering a different
kind of politics."
Rita Hauser,
Former
White House intelligence advisor under George W.
Bush
"McCain will continue the wrong-headed foreign policy
decisions of
Bush, while Obama will take us in a new direction."
Larry
Hunter,
Former President Reagan Policy Advisor
"I suspect Obama is more free-market friendly than he
lets on. He
taught at the University of Chicago, a hotbed of
right-of-center
thought. His economic advisers, notably Austan
Goolsbee,
recognize that ordinary citizens stand to gain more
from open markets
than from government meddling."
Bill
Ruckelshaus, served
in the Nixon and Reagan administrations
"I'm not against McCain, I'm for Obama."
Ken Adelman,
served
in the Ford administration
"The most important decision John McCain made in his
long campaign was
deciding on a running mate. That decision showed
appalling lack
of judgment... that selection contradicted McCain's
main two, and best
two, themes for his campaign-- Country First, and
experience
counts. Neither can he credibly claim,
post-Palin pick."
Lilibet
Hagel,
Wife of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (who has said
he won't endorse
anyone this time).
"This election is not about fighting phantom issues
churned out by a
top-notch slander machine. Most important, it is
not about
distracting the public-- you and me-- with whatever
slurs someone
thinks will stick."
Jeffrey
Hart,
National Review Senior Editor
"It turns out that these political parties are not
always either
liberal or conservative, Democratic or
Republican. The Democrat,
under certain conditions, can be the conservative."
Andrew
Bacevich,
Professor of International Relations at Boston
University
"For conservatives, Obama represents a sliver of
hope. McCain
represents none at all. The choice turns out to
be an easy one."
David
Friedman,
Economist and son of Milton and Rose Friedman
"I hope Obama wins. President Bush has clearly
been a disaster
from the standpoint of libertarians and conservatives
because he has
presided over an astonishing rise in government
spending."
Christopher
Buckley,
Son of National Review founder William F. Buckley
& former NR
columnist
"Obama has in him-- I think, despite his sometimes
airy-fairy 'We are
the people we have been waiting for' silly rehtoric--
the potential to
be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it
seems clear
enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling
for."
Andrew
Sullivan,
Columnist for the Atlantic Monthly
"Obama's legislative record, speeches, and the way he
has run his
campaign reveal, I think, a very even temperament, a
very sound
judgment, and an intelligent pragmatism.
Prudence is a word that
is not inappropriate to him."
Wick Alison,
Former
publisher of the National Review
"The more I listen to and read about “the most liberal
member of the
U.S. Senate,” the more I like him. Barack Obama
strikes a chord with me
like no political figure since Ronald Reagan. I made
the maximum
donation to John McCain during the primaries, when
there was still hope
he might come to his senses. But I now see that
Obama is almost
the ideal candidate for this moment in American
history."
Michael
Smerconish,
Columnist for the Philadelphia Enquirer
"...an Obama presidency holds the greatest chance for
unifying us here
at home and restoring our prestige around the globe."
ADDITIONAL
REPUBLICAN/CONSERVATIVE
ENDORSEMENTS:
William H.
Donaldson,
Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission during the Bush
admin., and Under Secretary of State for the Nixon
Administration. July
28, 2008
Paul
O'Neill,
United States Secretary of the Treasury from 2001-02
under George W.
Bush. August 26, 2008
David Ruder,
Chairman of the Securities & Exchange Commission
under Presidents
Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. August 26, 2008
Ben
Bernanke,
current Chairman of the Federal Reserve. October 21,
2008.
Rear Admiral
John
Hutson, USN (ret.), former Judge Advocate
General of the Navy
and the current dean and president of Franklin Pierce
Law Center.
August 26, 2008
Larry
Hunter,
Senior Fellow at the Institute for Policy Innovation
and Chief
Economist for the Free Enterprise Fund, former Reagan
policy advisor.
July 16, 2008
Barbara
Lorman,
Republican state senator and GOP offiicial. October
21, 2008
Ed Koch,
former
congressman and former mayor of New York City. [he
supported Bush in
2004, but technically, he is a Democrat] September 9,
2008
Lou
Thieblemont, Mayor
of Camp Hill, Penn. Thieblemont switched his party
registration from
Republican to Democrat so that he could vote for Obama
in the
Pennsylvania primary. March, 2008
Joel Haugen,
Republican
congressional candidate in Oregon. August 4, 2008
Susan
Eisenhower, granddaughter
of former President, Dwight D. Eisenhower and
president of the
Eisenhower Institute. May 12, 2008
Sarah Brady,
wife
of James Brady the former Assistant to the President
and White House
Press Secretary under President Ronald Reagan. Also
the founders of the
Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (see groups
section below), which
has also endorsed Obama. October 13, 2008
Tricia
Moseley,
a former staffer for the late Senator Strom
Thurmond.
CC
Goldwater, the
granddaughter of five-term US senator from Arizona and
the Republican
Party's nominee for President in the 1964
election.October 23, 2008, on
behalf of other family members.
Nicholas P.
Cafardi, a
law professor and the former dean of the Duquesne
University Law
School, is a prominent establishment Catholic figure
who is staunchly
anti-abortion. September 30, 2008
Frank
Schaeffer, pro-life
advocate and the son of evangelist Francis Schaeffer.
Andrew
Bacevich,
Professor of International Relations at Boston
University. March 24,
2008
Christopher
Hitchens,
Author, journalist, literary critic. October 13,
2008
Charles
Barkley,
Author, former NBA basketball player. August 27,
2008
Dennis
Hopper,
loyal Republican actor, and former Bush supporter.
October 13,
2008
Sheryl
Underwood, Republican
comedienne, October 24, 2008. | Source: The View, on
ABC
Jack
Antaramian,
Florida real estate developer and Bush fundraser.
October 7, 2008
David Ruder,
former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission,
appointed by Ronald Reagan
David
Durenberger,
Former Minnesota Senator. October 21, 2008
William
Weld,
Former Massachusetts Governor. October 24, 2008
Charles
Fried, former
U.S. Solicitor General and former McCain advisor.
October 24, 2008
Jason
Burkins, chairman
of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Massachusetts.
October 20, 2008
Military
Endorsements:
John Adams,
Brigadier General US Army (Ret), Former Deputy US
Military
Representative to the NATO Military Committee
Clifford
Alexander,
Jr., former Secretary of the Army
Susan Ahn
Cuddy,
first female gunner officer in the U.S. Navy and
daughter of Korean
Independence fighter Ahn Chang-ho
Wesley
Clark, former
General, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of
NATO, 2004
presidential candidate
Tom Daniels,
Texas Air National Guard
Richard
Danzig,
former Secretary of the Navy
Larry
Gillespie,
Brigadier General (Ret), Assistant Deputy Commanding
General, (ARNG)
Army Material Comman
Scott
Gration Major
General (USAF-Ret), former Director of
Strategy, Policy, and
Assessments of the United States European Command in
Germany
Richard D.
Hearney,
former Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps
John Hutson,
former
Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy
Jeh Johnson,
former
General Counsel of the U.S. Air Force[
Lester
Lyles,
former Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air
Force
David 'Dave'
McGinnis,
Brigadier General (Ret), former Chief of Staff of the
National Guard
Association of the U.S.
Merrill A.
McPeak,
four star General (Ret), former Secretary of the
United States Air
Force during Operation Desert Storm,
John B.
Nathman
(Ret), former Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command and
Vice Chief of
Naval Operations
F. Whitten
Peters,
former Secretary of the Air Force
Hugh
Robinson,
Major General (Ret), Commander of the Southwestern
Division
James Smith,
Brigadier General (USAF-Ret), former Commander, Joint
Warfighting
Center, U.S. Joint Forces Command, Joint Training
Analysis and
Simulation Center
Robert
'Willie'
Williamson Rear Admiral (USN-Ret), served as
military Deputy
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research,
Development and
Acquisition and Director, Office of Program Appraisal.
Ralph Wooten
Major General (Ret), former Commanding General of the
Army’s Chemical
Arsenal, currently the Executive Vice President of
Management Systems,
Inc.
James Smith
Brigadier General (Ret.) (USAF).
Don Guter
Admiral (Ret.) (USN).
SOME
CONSERVATIVE NEWSPAPER
ENDORSEMENTS:
Chicago
Tribune
endorsement exerpt (1st Democrat endorsed in 161
years):
Many Americans say they're uneasy about Obama. He's
pretty new to them.
We can provide some assurance. We have known Obama
since he entered
politics a dozen years ago. We have watched him,
worked with him,
argued with him as he rose from an effective state
senator to an
inspiring U.S. senator to the Democratic Party's
nominee for president.
We have tremendous confidence in his intellectual
rigor, his moral
compass and his ability to make sound, thoughtful,
careful decisions.
He is ready.
Los Angeles
Times
endorsement exerpt (1st Democrat ever endorsed):
The Times without hesitation endorses Barack Obama for
president. Our
nation has never before had a candidate like Obama, a
man born in the
1960s, of black African and white heritage, raised and
educated abroad
as well as in the United States, and bringing with him
a personal
narrative that encompasses much of the American story
but that, until
now, has been reflected in little of its elected
leadership. The
excitement of Obama's early campaign was amplified by
that newness. But
as the presidential race draws to its conclusion, it
is Obama's
character and temperament that come to the fore. It is
his steadiness.
His maturity.
Washington
Post
endorsement exerpt:
Mr. Obama also understands that the most important
single counter to
inequality, and the best way to maintain American
competitiveness, is
improved education, another subject of only modest
interest to Mr.
McCain. Mr. Obama would focus attention on early
education and on
helping families so that another generation of poor
children doesn't
lose out. His budgets would be less likely to squeeze
out important
programs such as Head Start and Pell grants. Though he
has been less
definitive than we would like, he supports
accountability measures for
public schools and providing parents choices by means
of charter
schools.
Atlanta
Journal-Constitution endorsement exerpt:
Different challenges require different strengths.
Obama has
demonstrated a calm, thoughtful leadership style that
fits this time
and this challenge well. He has laid out a wiser, more
measured
approach toward foreign policy that elevates diplomacy
and negotiation
while reserving the use of force if necessary to
protect this country
and its allies in a dangerous world. He understands
that international
respect and admiration can’t be forced at gunpoint.
Idaho
Statesman
endorsement exerpt:
This is not an obvious choice for a newspaper in a
historically
Republican state... But we have to think about what's
best for our
nation, which is facing challenging and confusing
times that call for
even-tempered, clear-minded leadership. When the
partisanship of this
election finally subsidies, Obama is the man who can
reach reasoned
conclusions, reach across the political divides, and
reach out to the
common American.
Denver Post
endorsement exerpt (endorsed George W. Bush in 2004):
McCain wants to eliminate the corporate tax deduction
on existing
health care plans, a cruel corporate surtax averaging
$3,500 per
employee. That tax hike would force employers to drop
coverage for tens
of millions of workers. The lucky workers who still
had employer-paid
benefits would have to pay income taxes on them — a
$3,000 tax increase
on a typical middle-income Colorado worker. And this
massive tax
increase on employers and employees alike comes from a
man who asked
repeatedly in the last debate: "Why raise anybody's
taxes?"
Orlando
Sentinel Star
endorsement exerpt:
McCain was at his most impetuous in choosing Alaska
Gov. Sarah Palin as
his running mate. Ms. Palin is charismatic and gives a
good speech.
When she's off script, however, she often doesn't know
what she's
talking about. On the campaign trail, she has
routinely mangled
the truth and launched over-the-top attacks, such as
Mr. Obama "palling
around with terrorists." Her divisive style also would
make her
ill-suited to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Mr. McCain
either didn't do his homework before picking her or
decided it was more
important to kowtow to his party's base. Neither
option speaks well of
him.
Aspen
(Colo.) Daily News
endorsement exerpt:
As many have noted, the mere act of electing Obama
will begin to undo
the unjust reputation bestowed on the United States in
recent years. It
would signal to the world that our country is ready
for open-minded
global debate, that it will act only after careful
deliberation, and
that the American dream is alive, well and moving into
the White House.
... Indeed, McCain's campaign has been strange. His
precarious thinking
is further evidenced by his hare-brained attacks of
distraction,
futilely trying to link Obama to a reformed '60s
radical, and stirring
rage and fear among the uneducated that Obama is not
'one of us.' In
fact, Obama is not only one of us, he is an
exceptional example of what
makes our country great. He inspires hope.
New York
Times
endorsement exerpt:
As tough as the times are, the selection of a new
president is easy.
After nearly two years of a grueling and ugly
campaign, Sen. Barack
Obama of Illinois has proved that he is the right
choice to be the 44th
president of the United States. Mr. Obama has met
challenge after
challenge, growing as a leader and putting real flesh
on his early
promises of hope and change. He has shown a cool head
and sound
judgment. We believe he has the will and the ability
to forge the broad
political consensus that is essential to finding
solutions to this
nation's problems.
RECENT
REMARKS
BY REPUBLICANS-CONSERVATIVES:
Susan
Collins (Fri
Oct 17):
Republican Sen. Susan Collins is calling on John
McCain to stop paying
for automated phone calls which describe Barack Obama
as having "worked
closely" with "domestic terrorist Bill Ayers". "These
kind of tactics
have no place in Maine politics," said Collins
spokesman Kevin Kelley.
"Sen. Collins urges the McCain campaign to stop these
calls
immediately."
Kathleen
Parker
(Oct 17)
The truth few wish to utter is that the GOP has
abandoned many
conservatives, who mostly nurse their angst in
private. Those chickens
we keep hearing about have indeed come home to roost.
Years of
pandering to the extreme wing — the “kooks” the senior
(William F. )
Buckley tried to separate from the right — have
created a party no
longer attentive to its principles.,, Republicans are
not short on
brainpower — or pride — but they have strayed off
course. They do not,
in fact, deserve to win this time, and someone had to
remind them why.
Heather Mac
Donald
(Tue Oct 14):
Conservative pundit Heather Mac Donald systematically
disassembles
McCain's VP pick and concludes that "conservatives
should not sacrifice
standards for political advantage."
David Frum
(Mon
Oct 13):
David "axis of evil" Frum gets his "I told you so"
ready at the
National Review and rebukes his critics who complain
that he isn't
cheerleading for McCain enough. He concludes:
"Perhaps it is our
job at NRO is tell our readers only what they want to
hear, without
much regard to whether it is true. Perhaps it is our
duty just to keep
smiling and to insist that everything is dandy - that
John McCain's
economic policies make sense, that his selection of
Sarah Palin was an
act of statesmanship, that she herself is the second
coming of Anna
Schwartz, and that nobody but an over-educated snob
would ever suggest
otherwise."
William
Milliken
(Fri Oct 10):
He is not the McCain I endorsed; he keeps saying, 'Who
is Barack
Obama?' I would ask the question, 'Who is John
McCain?' because his
campaign has become rather disappointing to me. I'm
disappointed in the
tenor and the personal attacks on the part of the
McCain campaign, when
he ought to be talking about the issues."
Perry Diaz (Wed
Oct
8):
Perry Diaz, chairman of the National Federation of
Filipino-American
Republicans, resigned from his post and withdrew his
endorsement,
saying "I endorsed McCain before the California
primary believing that
he was the right man for the job. I was
wrong. His
selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate and his
decision a few
days ago to resort to personal attacks on Obama's
character and
integrity run counter to my personal beliefs and core
values. I
have lost my respect for McCain and I believe that a
McCain/Palin
administration would only worsen the economic
situation in the country."
George Will
(Sep
23)
For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting
people who agree with
him against those who are "corrupt" or "betray the
public's trust," two
categories that seem to be exhaustive -- there are no
other people.
McCain's Manichaean worldview drove him to his
signature legislative
achievement, the McCain-Feingold law's restrictions on
campaigning.
Today, his campaign is creatively finding interstices
in laws intended
to restrict campaign giving and spending.
|
Choose To Unite - Barack Obama Music
Video
Barack Obama Music Video
-
Hope Changes Everything
I'm
a little confused. Let me see if I have this
straight....
* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your
grandparents, you're
"exotic, different."
* Grow up in Alaska eating moose burgers, a
quintessential American
story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic
Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track, you're a
maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating,
you're well
grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community
organizer, become the
first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create
a voter
registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters,
spend 12 years as
a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State
Senator
representing a district with over 750,000 people, become
chairman of
the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee,
spend 4 years
in the United States Senate representing a state of 13
million people
while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign
Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs
committees, you
don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years
on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less
than 9,000 people,
20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
people, then
you're qualified to become the country's second highest
ranking
executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19
years while raising
2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches,
you're not a
real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress,
and left your
disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month,
you're a
Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex
education, including
the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the
fiber of society.
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence
only, with no
other option in sex education in your state's school
system while your
unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very
responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up
a position in a
prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her
inner city
community, then gave that up to raise a family, your
family's values
don't represent America's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at
least one DUI
conviction and no college education, who didn't register
to vote until
age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated
the secession of
Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
Jesus Christ was a
Community Organizer.
Ponchus Pilot was a Govenor.
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