Republican endorsements for Obama

Wayne Gilcrest, Republican Congressman from Maryland
Jim Leach, Former Republican Congressman from Iowa
Harris Falwell, Former Republican Congressman from Illinois
Lincoln Chafee, Former Republican Senator from Rhode Island
Larry Pressler, Former Republican Senator from South Dakota and 1st Vietnam Vet in the Senate
Charles Mathias , Former Republican Senator from Maryland
Jim Whitaker, Republican mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska
William Weld, Former Republican Governor of Massachusetts
Arne Carlson, Former Republican Governor of Minnesota
Linwood Holton, Former Republican Governor of Virginia
Richard Riordan, Former Republican Mayor of Los Angeles
Fred Bramante, Former Chairman of New Hampshire Board of Education and Huckabee co-chair Susan Eisenhower, International security consultant and daughter of Dwight Eisenhower
Joel Hagen, current Republican candidate for Congress in Oregon
Colin Powell, George W. Bush Secretary of State, George H.W. Bush National Security Advisor
Scott McClellan, George W. Bush Press Secretary
Doug Kmiec, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush head of legal counsel
Larry Hunter, Reagan and Bush economist
Charles Fried, Reagan solicitor general
Francis Fukuyama, former advisor to Reagan
Ken Adelman, member of Ford, Reagan, and Bush administrations
William D. Ruckelshaus, Nixon Deputy Attorney General
Jeffrey Hart, Nixon and Reagan speechwriter
Tricia Mosely, Strom Thurmond staffer
Tony Campbell, Congressional staffer and former Republican candidate for Congress
Jackson M. Andrews, Counsel to Senate and former Republican candidate for Senate
Rita Hauser, Former George W. Bush intelligence advisor
Andrew Bacevich, Boston University International Relations professor
Andrew Sullivan, Conservative author
Tom Bernstein, Texas Rangers owner and Bush supporter
Julie Nixon Eisenhower, daughter of Richard Nixon
C.C. Goldwater, granddaughter of Barry Goldwater
Lilibet Hagel, wife of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel
Christopher Buckley, Conservative columnist and editor, son of William Buckley
Wick Allison, Conservative editor and former National Review publicist
Major General Walter Stewart, Former Commander of Pennsylvania National Guard
Elizabeth Drew, author of Citizen McCain
Nicholas P. Cafardi, Catholic legal scholar and former dean of Duquesne University School of Law Dennis Hopper, Conservative actor and filmmaker
Michael Smerconish, Conservative talk-show host and lawyer
Bill Handel, Conservative talk-show host and lawyer

Even more endorsements here that I haven't managed to add yet

What Republicans say about Obama

Endorsements:
Jim Leach, Former Republican Congressman from Iowa

The change Barack Obama is advocating is far more than a break with today's politics. It is a clarion call for renewal rooted in time-tested American values that tap Republican, as well as Democratic traditions. There's no doubt that John McCain has served in Congress longer than Barack Obama. But it's important to look at judgment over experience and I am impressed by Barack's judgment."

Lincoln Chafee, Former Republican Senator from Rhode Island

I believe Senator Obama is the best candidate to restore American credibility, to restore our confidence to be moral and to bring people together to solve the complex issues such as the economy, the environment and global stability

Jim Whitaker, Republican mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska

Whitaker, a former state lawmaker, said a comparison of Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain — neither of whom he has personally met — leads him to believe Obama has the stronger “intellectual capacity” and a greater ability to manifest it.

Whitaker, who as a politician has often focused on energy issues, said he sensed an open-minded approach in Obama’s campaign toward traditional, alternative and renewable energy issues that can benefit resource-rich Alaska.

Susan Eisenhower, International security consultant and daughter of Dwight Eisenhower

I am convinced that Barack Obama is the one presidential candidate today who can encourage ordinary Americans to stand straight again; he is a man who can salve our national wounds and both inspire and pursue genuine bipartisan cooperation. Just as important, Obama can assure the world and Americans that this great nation’s impulses are still free, open, fair and broad-minded.

Other praise:
McCain advisor Mark McKinnon quits campaign rather than oppose Obama

While saying that he does not agree with Obama on every issue, McKinnon gushed about the Illinois Democrat.
"I met Barack Obama, I read his book, I like him a great deal," said McKinnon. "I disagree with him on very fundamental issues. But I think, as I said, I think it would a great race for the country."

McCain delegate Kirk Dilliard supports Obama's bipartisan State Senate record

Sen. Obama worked on some of the deepest issues we had, and he was successful in a bipartisan way. Republican legislators respected Sen. Obama. His negotiation skills and an ability to understand both sides would serve the country very well.

None of my colleagues who admired Obama will return the reporters’ phone calls, and that’s the problem with this country. No one is willing to say something nice for 10 seconds about someone of a different race, party and location.

Obama's resume

EXPERIENCE:

United State Senator, elected November 2004, serving to present

• Serves on Senate committees for Foreign Relations, Veterans’ Affairs, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Also served on Senate Committee for Environment and Public Works.
• Chairman of Senate subcommittee on European Affairs
• Shares responsibility for the bipartisan Coburn-Obama Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, requiring full online disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds.
• Shares responsibility for the bipartisan Lugar-Obama Cooperative Proliferation Detection, Interdiction Assistance, and Conventional Threat Reduction Act of 2006, deepening non-proliferation work and including surface-to-air missiles, land mines, and other weapons that may be used by terrorists
• Responsible for the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act of 2005, providing aid and expertise to promote democracy in post-war Congo
• Was chosen by the Democratic party to be the point person on ethics reform, putting forth important contributions to a major ethics reform bill
• Wrote and sponsored successful amendments that provide food and telephone services to recuperating veterans free of charge, improve aid for homeless veterans, ensure that all Iraq veterans are tested for Tramatic Brain Injury, improve evacuation and location services in the event of a natural disaster, investigate FEMA's response to formaldehyde-infected trailers used in the Katrina aftermath, require lobbyists to disclose who they collect or arrange contributions for and the total amounts of those contributions, provide funds for summer learning programs among low-income students in the early grades, increase the pool of students entering science and technology fields, improve the safety and efficacy of genetic tests, clarify U.S. policy detering nuclear testing, forcing the EPA to enforce lead paint regulations, funding avian flu research, fund research for hybrid and flex-fuel vehicles, and several others

Illinois State Senator, elected November 1996, served to 2004

• Chairman of Health and Human Services Committee
• Spearheaded a successful bipartisan effort in Illinois to pass the broadest ethics-reform legislation by any state in 25 years
• Gained bipartisan support for his bills reforming death penalty interrogations and ending racial profiling by police
• Sponsored successful bills expanding tax credits and child-care subsidies for low-income working families, protecting overtime pay for workers, expanding health care for children and their parents, setting up a "Hospital Report Card" system, and providing job skills training for juveniles
• Worked with Republican-led state senate to negotiate welfare reform

Civil Rights Lawyer, Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, 1993 to 2004

• Represented non-profit organizations and private individuals in urban development projects, voting rights cases, and wrongful firings
• Filed major suit that forced the state of Illinois to enforce the Motor Voter Law
• Successfully argued before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of wrongful firing

Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Chicago School of Law, 1992 to 2004

• Lecturer from 1992 through 1996, senior lecturer from 1996 through 2004
• Taught courses on the due process and equal protection areas of constitutional law, on voting rights, and on racism and law
• Helped develop a casebook on voting rights

Community Organizer, Developing Communities Project, 1985 to 1988

• Motivated community members to fight for their own causes through a church-based movement
• Helped set up a college prep tutoring program, job training center, and tenants' rights organization, and fought to get asbestos removed from tenants’ apartments
• Also worked as a consultant and instructor for the Gamaliel Foundation

Community Organizer, New York Public Interest Research Group, 1984 to 1985

• Promoted personal, community, and government reform
• Mobilized student volunteers at the City College in Harlem

Researcher and Writer, Business International Corporation, 1983 to 1984

• Helped companies understand overseas markets in the “Financing Foreign Operations” service
• Wrote for the “Business International Money Report”

EDUCATION:

J.D., Harvard School of Law, 1988 to 1991

• Graduated magna cum laude
• First Black president of the Harvard Law Review in school history

B.A. in Political Science and International Relations, Columbia University, 1981 to 1983

• Graduated with honors
• Wrote thesis on Soviet nuclear disarmament

ACTIVITIES:

* Wrote the best-selling Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope
* Has written articles for the Harvard Law Review, Foreign Affairs, and The Washington Post
* Founding president and chairman of board of directors for Chicago Annenberg Challenge
* Founding member of board of directors for Public Allies
* Served on board of directors for The Joyce Foundation
* Served on board of directors for Woods Fund of Chicago
* Served on board of directors for Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
* Served on board of directors for Center for Neighborhood Technology
* Served on board of directors for Lugenia Burns Hope Center
* Has also been involved with ACORN, the Center for New Horizons, and Leadership for Quality Education
* Has spoken on behalf of “Wake up Wal-Mart”, “Families USA”, the “Global Summit on AIDS and the Church”, and the “Call To Renewal” politics and religion conference

Is Obama a Liberal?

"Barack Obama is the most liberal member of the Senate" and "Joe Biden is the third most liberal member of the Senate" are common talking points for McCain and associates nowadays. These statements (silly to anyone who follows the Senate) are based on a single flawed National Journal report about 2007 voting patterns (they said the same thing about John Kerry in 2004). The only reason these senators ranked so high was because they missed many votes while campaigning. In previous years, Barack Obama had ranked 10th and 16th, and Biden was even more moderate. The National Journal themselves has said that their vote rankings should not be used in such a way, and just stated:

Joe Biden's voting record has generally placed him among the center of Senate Democrats ideologically in National Journal's annual congressional vote ratings

A separate, more comprehensive study of the 109th Congress found Obama to be the 21st most liberal Senator. The study of the 110th Congress put Joe Biden and Barack Obama tied as the 10th and 11th most liberal senators, which was exaggerated due to missed votes. Obama has also coauthored several successful bills with Republicans Richard Lugar, Tom Coburn, Kit Bond, and Chuck Hagel, who are nowhere near the liberal end of the spectrum.
The McCain campaign has tried to push these false impressions about both Obama and Biden themselves, even as they claim that "Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time." That's pretty hard to do if he's the most liberal member of the Senate, isn't it? John McCain has been in the Senate with both men and should know better.

Walking the line with the Religious Right

Back in 2000, John McCain made it clear that he would not pander to the Religious Right:

They are corrupting influences on religion and politics, and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America shame our faith, our party and our country...

Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right...

We are the party of Ronald Reagan, not Pat Robertson...

We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, not Bob Jones...

That same year he especially criticized George W. Bush for speaking at Bob Jones University:

If I were there, I would condemn openly the policies of Bob Jones, because I would want to make sure that everybody knew that this kind of thing is not American.

He also sent out anti-Bush calls to prospective voters, telling them not to vote for a politician who sought the endorsement of "anti-Catholic" religious leaders:

John McCain, a pro-life senator, has strongly criticized this anti-Catholic bigotry, while Governor Bush has stayed silent while seeking the support of Bob Jones University.

But by 2006, McCain was meeting with Jerry Falwell and giving the commencement address at the university of his "good friend":

While Sen. McCain and Liberty University Chancellor Jerry Falwell have had their share of political differences through the years, the two men share a common respect for each other and have become good friends in their efforts to preserve what they see as common values. This will mark his first ever appearance at Liberty University.

McCain also carefully avoided criticizing Bob Jones University and suggested he could be willing to speak there:

I can’t remember when I’ve turned down a speaking invitation. I think I’d have to look at it," he told The State newspaper. McCain, R-Ariz., says he would have to look at Bob Jones University’s latest policy statements. "I understand they have made considerable progress.

In 2007 McCain began actively seeking the endorsement of anti-Catholic Reverend John Hagee, speaking at a Hagee-sponsored event and thanking him for his:

spiritual guidance to politicians like me...It’s hard to do the Lord’s work in the city of Satan.

In February 2008, McCain again shared a stage with Rev. Hagee while he publicly endorsed McCain, assuring voters:

John McCain is a man of principle. He does not stand boldly on both sides of any issue.

McCain had also been seeking the endorsement of controversial televangelist Ron Parsley, and later in February McCain publicly appeared with Rev. Parsley, calling him a 'spiritual guide' and accepting his endorsement.

In March 2008, Hagee made it clear that McCain had actively "sought" his endorsement. When attention was drawn to Hagee's pattern of anti-Catholic and anti-Muslim statements, McCain would not reject the endorsement, and tried to sort of defend him and repudiate his words at the same time:

I will say that he said that his words were taken out of context, he defends his position. I hope that maybe you’d give him a chance to respond. He says he has never been anti-Catholic, but I repudiate the words that create that impression.

In April 2008, McCain said that it was a mistake to seek Hagee's endorsement:

STEPHANOPOULOS: So was it a mistake to solicit and accept his endorsement?
MCCAIN: Oh, probably, sure.

but just a few seconds later said he was still glad to have the endorsement:

I’m glad to have his endorsement. I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything. And thanks for asking.

In May 2008, Joe Lieberman defended Hagee for McCain:

He accepted his endorsement. He represents a lot of people in this country, particularly Christians who care about the state of Israel. He founded a group called Christians United for Israel.

But just a week later, with Hagee's negative comments continuing to get media attention, McCain finally rejected his support and strongly criticized the man:

Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.

Later in the same day, he rejected the support of Rev. Ron Parsley:

I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn’t endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement.

About that campaign finance reform...

In 2006, McCain took his name off the reform effort that he had previously supported in 2003.

Then in 2007, he said he would vote to strip away part of that same package that he had tried to pass four years earlier:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has told conservative activists that he will vote to strip a key provision on grassroots lobbying from the reform package he previously supported.

The provision would require grassroots organizations to report on their fundraising activities and is strongly opposed by groups such as the National Right to Life Committee, Gun Owners of America, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

On a different note, in 1996 and 1997, John McCain proposed legislation that

would ban a candidate or a candidate's authorized committee from paying registered lobbyists

But by May 2008, he had 134 lobbyists either working as paid staff or raising money for him.

Negative publicity caused him to create a new conflict-of-interest policy and fire several lobbyists from his campaign that month. The policy clearly states:

No person working for the Campaign may be a registered lobbyist or foreign agent, or receive compensation for any such activity.

But despite this published policy, in July 2008 it was clear that lobbyists are still welcome on his campaign staff:

Katie Couric asked Rick Davis, ostensibly McCain’s campaign manager, how many lobbyists work at campaign headquarters. “We don’t make it a litmus test for employment at the McCain campaign,” Davis said. “It goes without saying that some people who are involved in the lobbying profession do it because they are interested in that side of the equation. They’re interested in government, they’re interested in Congress, they’re interested in public service.

When Couric followed up by asking if the McCain campaign considers lobbyists “public servants,” Davis responded, “Well, I didn’t say that. How do you distinguish someone who lobbies, you know, on behalf of cancer from someone who lobbies on behalf of an oil interest. I wouldn’t call them the same thing but they’re still lobbyists.”

Can McCain remember his talking points on gay marriage?

In 2004, McCain strongly opposed the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage after the Massachusetts Supreme Court had removed the ban in their state:

"The constitutional amendment we're debating today strikes me as antithetical in every way to the core philosophy of Republicans," McCain said. "It usurps from the states a fundamental authority they have always possessed and imposes a federal remedy for a problem that most states do not believe confronts them."
"What evidence do we have that states are incapable of further exercising an authority they have exercised successfully for over 200 years?" McCain said.

In an interview in 2006, he appeared to be sorta in favor of gay marriage, with an unclear qualification:

On the issue of gay marriage, I do believe, and I think it’s a correct policy that the sanctity of heterosexual marriage, a marriage between man and woman, should have a unique status. But I’m not for depriving any other group of Americans from having rights. But I do believe that there is something that is unique between marriage between a man and a woman, and I believe it should be protected.

I think that gay marriage should be allowed, if there’s a ceremony kind of thing, if you want to call it that. I don’t have any problem with that, but I do believe in preserving the sanctity of the union between man and woman.

After getting some advice from another Republican, he went off-topic later in the interview and tried to clarify his stance:

Could I just mention one other thing? On the issue of the gay marriage, I believe if people want to have private ceremonies, that’s fine. I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal.

It was a good thing he clarified that, because that year he had publicly come out in support of Arizona's Protect Marriage Amendment, which stated in no unclear terms:

To preserve and protect marriage in this state, only a union between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage by this state or its political subdivisions and no legal status for unmarried persons shall be created or recognized by this state or its political subdivisions that is similar to marriage.

So that means he's against civil unions, and wants to deprive gay persons from any rights that are similar to the ones married persons have, right?

And just to be clear, openly gay persons don't have a right to be in the military either:

McCain says the law, passed in 1993, unambiguously maintains that open homosexuality within the military services presents an intolerable risk to morale, cohesion and discipline.