A Day Of Endorsements, and One Newspaper Reneging on Theirs
Republicans endorsing Democrats! Yeah, and the two here were all for Reagan and Bush the First. And, hey, a newspaper is apologizing for their unwise endorsement of a couple years ago! Soon we will be seeing cats and dogs sleeping together, eh?
Two Republicans came out today to endorse Barack Obama. Patrick O’Hara is a Republican from Chester Country in Pennsylvania, and he recalls being inspired by both Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan. His condemnation of both the Bush Administration and the Republican-led divisive politics in this country contribute to his endorsement of Barack Obama in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Doug Kmiec was head of the Office of Legal Counsel for both Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. In his endorsement of Barack Obama in Slate magazine Kmiec claims he has faith in Barack Obama’s ability to bridge our coutry’s religious and racial divides. Kmeic was evidently a strong supporter of Mitt Romney, and it therefore surprises me that he would come over to the Obama bandwagon. Oh, it is an odd political season, what?
Perhaps the oddest is a newspaper begging forgiveness for one of its previous endorsements. The Day, a Connecticut newspaper, is apologizing for its 2006 endorsement of Joe Lieberman for the Connecticut Senate seat. As with the endorsers of Obama, it seems The Day is concerned with bringing Americans together, and how Joe Lieberman has purposely worked against that goal. From theday.com:
Last August when some Democrats in Congress criticized the slow progress of the Iraq government on issues of reform and military readiness, Sen. Lieberman criticized them for “retreating from the real enemies who threaten our vital national interests.” Like the attack advertisements aimed at the congressmen, the criticism unfairly labeled legitimate policy questions raised by Democrats as evidence of weakness on national security.
Meanwhile, the junior Connecticut senator is not only backing the Republican nominee for the presidency, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, but appears to be making a contest of trying to get into every photo and TV news video with him. Perhaps Sen. Lieberman is taking delight in needling the chairman of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean, his 2004 opponent for the presidency, whose leadership he once dismissed as a “ticket to nowhere.”
Rather than building the bridges The Day expected when it endorsed Sen. Lieberman, he appears busy burning bridges with the party of which he is allegedly still a member. Perhaps the senator is positioning himself for a top cabinet post in a McCain presidency. But if the Democrats prevail, and enlarge their control of the Senate, it is hard to imagine this Connecticut senator being welcomed back with open arms.
Oh, I don’t expect a flood of Republicans switching sides, but it is encouraging that in endorsements nowadays the notion of healing our political divisions and bringing Americans together is the driving force behind endorsements. Sure, the Republicans are going to work as hard as they can to exploit every division in America that they’ve exploited in the past, but it is nice to see that some folks, even lifelong Republicans, are seeing through the destructive Republican tactic.
steven, last night, when i saw powerline bad-mouthing kmeic for the endorsement, i was in disbelief. there must be some explanation.
but, if it is true,as you say, maybe the deeper meaning is that it is now OK for other repubs, harboring thoughts like kmeic, to switch sides.
even with the wright-noose, obama is creating some strange conditions. the conservative punditry, for one, are finding it difficult to destroy a speech that they know will become an icon in race relations.
While Obama supporter bitterly denounce any Republican who may have voted for Clinton as a Limbaugh stooge, Obama himself has been seeking Republican votes in a desperate attemtp to defeat Clinton where only Democrats can vote in a Democratic primary.
In an effort to dent Clinton’s lead, his campaign is asking Republican and independent voters to register as Democrats.
By Peter Nicholas March 22, 2008
DOYLESTOWN, PA. — After knocking on doors at a half-dozen houses, Mardi Harrison, a campaign volunteer for Barack Obama, finally found someone to listen to her pitch.
….
Obama trails Hillary Rodham Clinton by a large margin in Pennsylvania, site of the next Democratic presidential contest. The state has a large number of the older and blue-collar voters who tend to back Clinton. Even this month’s most favorable poll for Obama shows her leading by 11 percentage points. One poll has her ahead by 26….
This is pathetic on two grounds: projecting your own tactic to the opposition and condemning them for it and for the rank hypocrisy. Is Obama even a Democrat? He received overwhelming support among Republicans who voted in Democratic primaries.
Yo, Mikey, it isn’t wrong to seek Republican support. It is wrong for Republicans to sneak in and support Hillary even though they have no intention to vote for her in a general election. If you don’t understand the difference, you deserve to have Rush Limbaugh direct your every move.
look, with mccrappy being the thug candidate, i’m sure there will be plenty of republicans voting for either obama or clinton. but does it make it right for them to cross over for the primaries in either case? no. not sure about pa, but in ohio it’s illegal unless you vow to support the dem platform. i hope that rush gets indicted for what he did.
thugs are not to be trusted, and i wouldn’t be so proud of those endorsements. the thing i like least about obama is his willingness to make nice and reach across the aisle to the very same criminals that got this country in the jam it’s in in the first place.
and the more thugs endorse obama, the more i’d lean towards clinton - and how do you know that’s not the point?
i’m with mikey on this one.
hey guys, aren’t we talking about apples and oranges?
it’s one thing to talk about endorsements — which have to be defended, especially, if you are a cross-over, among other members of the same party — but votes themselves are secret — and need no defense.
and to call doug kmeic a thug is a stretch. kmeic is a dean of law at pepperdine.
as an obama supporter, i am suspicious of someone like kmeic giving obama his endorsement. i may not like kmeic’s usual politics — pretty hard repub — but thug? No! powerline, though — hard right blog — was quick to take kmeic to task
again, i won’t be surprised to see others like kmeic coming public with endorsements.
my main concern, though, is with guys like gore, edwards, reingold, and biden. when will they come off the fence?
raymond - i’m using the term “thug” as shorthand for republican. and like i said they are not to be trusted.
but votes need no defense? primaries are held so people of a party can determine their party’s candidate so crossovers shouldn’t be permitted. i imagine that people who attempt to sway their opponents party’s elections don’t feel any obligation to respect that, so i think it’s a reasonable law.