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I'm a lifelong conservative activist and I'm backing Barack Obama
These are not my words , but those of one Larry Hunter, who's creds as a conservative Republican are lengthy, to say the least. Yesterday he wrote a piece for the Daily News outlining his reasons for why he is voting for Obama.
It's an interesting article some of which, especially on Obama's policies and positions I think he is reading wrong, but so be it.
The money quote comes in the first three paragraphs.
I'm a lifelong Republican - a supply-side conservative. I worked in the Reagan White House. I was the chief economist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for five years. In 1994, I helped write the Republican Contract with America. I served on Bob Dole's presidential campaign team and was chief economist for Jack Kemp's Empower America.
This November, I'm voting for Barack Obama.
When I first made this decision, many colleagues were shocked. How could I support a candidate with a domestic policy platform that's antithetical to almost everything I believe in?
The answer is simple: Unjustified war and unconstitutional abridgment of individual rights vs. ill-conceived tax and economic policies - this is the difference between venial and mortal sins.
Whether Larry has truly seen the light and left the dark side I couldn't say. The news here - another nail in the Republican Party coffin just got hammered home.
Cross posted at DKos/MyDD
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Comments (13)
Democrats in general can make headway with the socially libertarian Republicans, as opposed to the economic libertarians. If you can tell people things like, "I won't snoop inot your private life and I won't make you pay for costly, unnecessary wars," then they might just grin and bear a difference on tax policy.
July 17, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow. Not exactly a glowing endorsement, but representative of what a growing number of conservative, former Republicans are feeling right now.
I hope Obama's terms in office result in conditions that foster healthy economic growth and a return to security, giving proof that smart investment in American citizens (not just expenses "wasted" on entitlements) can produce desirable economic conditions.
We have an opportunity to persuade conservative voters that careful investment in our nation's citizens can be as safe and productive as can careful and wise investment in our nation's infrastructure.
July 17, 2008 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nice subtle difference with a distinction, Laura
It reminds me how welfare was originally sold to the American People, not a hand out but a hand up.
July 17, 2008 5:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
July 18, 2008 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
sorry about the messed up blockquote - wish we could edit our comments
July 18, 2008 1:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was working the Dem booth at a local event last weekend and my dad walked up and said, "This is my daughter. I am a lifetime Republican. And I'm probably going to vote for Obama in the fall." My dad calls Obama a socialist but is stil interested in a new way forward. I should also add that my dad was a fighter pilot in Vietman and lives in AZ. How's them apples?? : )
July 17, 2008 6:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Them apples are just fine! :)
I have my own humble Obamacon story. Nothing exotic, but doesn't have to be. Good friend of one of my high school golfing buddies, tells me over a beer how his parents were both liberals, he became a Republican sort of in opposition to them, but W's excesses have made him so nauseous he's thinking about voting for Obama. This, of course, said in almost apologetic tones, but sincere nonetheless.
Keep 'em coming!
July 17, 2008 11:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right on. Obama for Prez for sure. The real overarching reason for not voting for McCain is that he's a Republican. this party shoved Bush on us, and rejected a better version of McCain in 2000 for this idiot fool that occupies the Oval Office. they now have extreme buyer's remorse and want desperately to stay relevant, fat chance, and so they're backing McCain even though many of their ilk can't stand him. this party has failed because it divided the country after 9/11 as they used that issue to hammer democrats as soft and won elections that way. the slash and burn politics of Karl Rove and Tom Delay have now come home to roost and the American electorate is fed up with their failures and Bush and Cheney's. the GOP should be sent packing to the wilderness they belong in.
July 18, 2008 12:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
So interesting his use of the term 'venial' sin. I consider 90% of the actions Bush has taken since in office to be more closely likened to mortal sin. Everything he touches turns to violence, death, and unchecked greed that leads to more violence and death. I do not believe, short of his support for the Olympic Games, that he has done one single thing in the interest of the people of our country.
I too am confused by Mr Hunter's reasoning, calling BO's tax plans ill-conceived, as a look at the Obama proposals reveal forward thinking and reasonable compromise.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/economy/#tax-relief
I can't see anything resembling Socialism in Obama's policy propositions. His stance on the absolute need to curtail the lack of oversight in the industries that form the backbone of our economy is not socialism, it is common sence survival instinct. The people trying to stick a Socialist lable on BO are the fat cats who don't ever want their well to run dry.
July 18, 2008 8:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
"I worked in the Reagan White House". Then you too have committed mortal sins.
July 18, 2008 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't rely on there being any remorseful republicans. It ain't their style when they lose. Today's republicans will use vindictiveness to reestablish a base of power if allowed.
I recall after the coup in 2000 wondering if GW would display a sense of magnanimous humility and acknowledge the closeness of the race. Instead, he declared in his acceptance speech that he had won a mandate and from that point on jumped far to the extreme of where he campaigned and proceeded to behave like a paranoid extremist monarch.
If we win this election we need to continue to kick and pound the kind of conservatism that the Republican Party created. We can't afford to stop just because they are down. We need to never turn our backs on it and not stop until it's dead and buryed. You never know when it might pull a knife to fight its way back though you can count on that happening if they are given the chance.
I believe a Republican party is needed but the one we have now is an abomination, an insult to democracy and, heinously dangerous.
July 18, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
.....and if I did, it would be wrong anyway.....
:/
July 18, 2008 2:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
...opps...wrong thread
July 18, 2008 2:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
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