Why Obama appeals to Republicans and Independents

I could explain my own feelings about how Obama works to understand both sides and reach consensus whenever possible, but it's better in their own words. Read what prominent Republicans like Jim Leach (former Congressman), Lincoln Chafee (former Senator), Jim Whitaker (mayor of Fairbanks, Alaska), and Susan Eisenhower (international security consultant) say about Obama. Current Republican Congressman Wayne Gilcrest has also endorsed Obama, and current Republican Senator Chuck Hagel recently said that he would have considered being Obama's running mate.

They are not the only prominent Republicans who have publicly backed Obama in this campaign. Here's an example of some of the endorsements.

In an unusual case, some Republicans have even praised Obama while participating in McCain's campaign.


But what's Obama's record on bipartisan issues? Has he really done as much as these Obamicans claim? You can look at the Obama campaign's list of his records and praise from the Republican Senators he's worked with. Here are the condensed facts:


UNITED STATES SENATE:

Barack Obama and Republican Richard Lugar together wrote the Lugar-Obama Proliferation and Threat Reduction Initiative, a law which expanded non-proliferation work with both WMD's and conventional weapons in order to keep them out of the hands of terrorists. The senators traveled together to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan while researching the effects of previous legislation.

Obama worked with Republican Tom Coburn to pass the Coburn-Obama Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which made all federal grants, loans, contracts, and earmarks accessible on the Internet for full disclosure of where our money is going. Obama and Coburn also coauthored a successful bipartisan bill to end the abuse of no-bid contracting in the wake of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

Barack Obama was the primary sponsor of the Fuel Economy Reform Act of 2006. He worked together with three Republican senators and four Democrats to put forth the bill, and Republican Gordon Smith later hyped his work with Obama in ads to show his own bipartisan credentials.

Barack Obama also partnered with Republican Kit Bond on multiple bills to improve care for injured soliders returning from Iraq and with Republican Chuck Hagel to reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism. He worked with Republican Orrin Hatch on bills to provide incentives for alternative-energy vehicles and protect charitable donations during bankruptcy. Finally, he recently worked with Republican Lisa Murkowski to limit the spread of mercury.



ILLINOIS STATE SENATE:

Barack Obama worked together with Republicans on successful efforts to produce welfare reform, ethics reform, and an end to racial profiling. On welfare reform, he entered into an in-progress Republican cause and made it more palatable for his side of the aisle. On campaign finance reform, he pushed to be the Democrats' go-to guy on a bipartisan effort, and had to fight detractors from both parties to pass the most comprehensive ethics reform in any state in 25 years. And on racial profiling, he took his own issue to Republicans and helped them to understand why fighting against the practice would benefit everyone.

Obama's effort to reform death penalty interrogations was initially opposed by law enforcement, Republican legislators, and the Democratic governor. Obama worked with law enforcement on the bill, using their suggestions for improvement and endorsement to convince Republicans to join the effort, eventually getting unanimous support for the bill in the Illinois senate.


Finally, one of Obama's former coworkers has written especially well on Obama's ability to understand issues from both sides and move outside of partisan politics. Professor Cass Sunstein of the Law School at the University of Chicago wrote The Obama I Know and The Empiricist Strikes Back.