Former Republican congressman endorses Obama's bid

Source: Yahoo A/P

DES MOINES, Iowa - A leading Republican moderate with a foreign policy background endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday as the Democrat sought to show his appeal to members of both political parties.
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Former Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa was among Republicans the Obama campaign said were crossing party lines to support Obama. The Illinois senator's campaign said he was also being backed by the Republican mayor of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, Jim Whitaker. The campaign did not release the names of other GOP supporters or the size of the group.

"I'm convinced that the national interest demands a new approach to our interaction with the world," Leach, a foreign service officer before being elected to Congress, said in a conference call with reporters.

Leach predicted that many Republicans and independents would be attracted by Obama's campaign but said his decision to endorse a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time wasn't easy.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_el_pr/leach_obama_endorsement

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See these links about this endorsement:

Jim Leach endorses Obama

"It's been a very difficult thing for me because I've never endorsed a Democrat before...but sometimes in life you come to a juncture where it's very clear the national interest trumps party discipline," former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach said in a noontime interview with Radio Iowa. Read more below.

Two updates below provide links to audio of Leach talking about his decision.
http://learfield.typepad.com/radioiowa/2008/08/jim-leach-endor.html
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McCain Response to Rep. Leach’s Obama Endorsement:

As Obama receives an endorsement today from former Congressman Jim Leach, you might want to ask about Obama’s attacks calling Leach’s deregulation bill (Gramm-Leach-Bliley) a lobbyist-driven deal that led to the subprime lending crisis…

Leach Co-Authored The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Which Obama Blames For The Subprime Lending Crisis:

Leach Was The Co-Author Of The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Which Repealed The Glass-Steagall Act And Allowed Competition Between Commercial And Investment Banks And Insurance Companies. (S. 900, Signed 11/12/99)

Obama Has Attacked The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act As A Lobbyist-Driven Deregulation That Led To The Subprime Lending Crisis. Obama: “By the time the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, the $300 million lobbying effort that drove deregulation was more about facilitating mergers than creating an efficient regulatory framework. … The regulatory environment failed to keep pace. When subprime mortgage lending took a reckless and unsustainable turn, a patchwork of regulators were unable or unwilling to protect the American people.” (Cheyenne Hopkins, “Regulatory Revamp Newest Plank In Obama’s Platform,” American Banker, 3/28/0
http://thepage.time.com/mccain-response-to-rep-leachs-obama-endorsement/

:rofl: AS IF Obama begged for this guy's endorsement! :rofl:

make the democrats mad! Good for Leach for doing what is right at a risk to his own career. More republicans should be brave enough to do that!!!!

Of additional note: Leach shared an office with Dick Cheney when Cheney -- and Leach -- worked for Donald Rumsfeld in D.C. decades ago. Cheney spoke at a campaign fundraiser for Leach in Cedar Rapids in 2003. Here's the pertinent part: "I appreciate your warm welcome. But I am especially pleased to be here today with Jim, because Jim and I have been friends for many, many years. Lynne and I have known Jim and Deba longer than we can count. Jim and I first got to know each other more than 30 years ago -- I guess it was 1969 -- when we both went to work for a young, up and comer then, a budding politician. Jim had already worked for him when he was in the House of Representatives. He was in his mid-30s. His name was Don Rumsfeld. And he was no longer a congressman from Illinois; he was running the Office of Economic Opportunity. And Jim and I went to work for him in the executive branch some 34, almost 35 years ago.

"Subsequent to that, of course, Jim had important assignments at the State Department, the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. I went to work for President Ford. Eventually, in 1976, Jim got elected to the House of Representatives. In 1978, I got elected to the House of Representatives. My state of Wyoming was a little bit different than Iowa in the sense that we only had one congressman for the entire state. It was a small delegation. (Laughter.) But it was quality. (Laughter.)

"But, so I followed Jim by two years in the House, but one of the great privileges in the House are the friendships and the relationships that deepen as a result of your time there, and I had the great privilege of serving for ten years with Jim. And it has subsequently, obviously, been a great pleasure now to return to government, and one of the nice things about going back after I thought I'd finished my career in politics and planned to enjoy private life, to return back to Washington with the President and become part of his administration has been the privilege of renewing a lot of those old friendships and relationships with men and women that I had worked with previously, and now we've gotten back together again. And I think of people like Jim that I worked with in the Congress, and Don Rumsfeld is back at Defense. He hasn't made any progress at all in about 30 years -- same old job. (Laughter.) Colin Powell at the State Department, et cetera."
http://learfield.typepad.com/radioiowa/2008/08/jim-leach-endor.html

to all republicans and independentd (and I guess democrats) who believe Obama doesn't have enough experience. Why are people with lots of experience(especially with the republican party) voting for him then? Has FOX news reponded yet?

Leach is one of a vanishing breed.

Eisenhower, Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln, even Barry Goldwater & Gerald Ford would not be welcomed in the 21st century party of Limbaugh, Dobson, & John McCain.

The 21st century GOP would have no room for a 5 star general who both led the nation to victory in WWII and denounced the military-industrial complex.

The 21st century GOP has no room for trust-busting environmentalists like TR.

The 21st century GOP has no room for a civil libertarian like Barry Goldwater, Bob Barr, or Ron Paul.

The 21st century GOP would certainly not welcome an Abraham Lincoln.




And the 21st century GOP has no room for Jim Leach, Lincoln Chafee, or Chuck Hagel......

or anyone else who respects our shared historic democratic values.

:toast: