"The Republican Party needs to see that the new ideas are coming from a different candidate"

September 7, 2008

One of the most exciting things about this campaign is how it brings Americans together – across generations, ethnicities, and even party lines – to work together for change. So many Republicans were standing up to voice their support for Barack Obama that we had to give them their own group. And so Republicans for Obama was founded.

Through Republicans for Obama, thousands of current and former Republicans are coming together to build the movement in their communities. Republicans across American, from Maine to Florida to Washington, are joining together to bring real change.

Former U.S. Senator from Rhode Island and lifelong Republican Lincoln Chaffee recently spoke at a gathering of republicans for Obama in Palm Beach, Florida. The St. Petersburg Times reported that Chafee was the lone Senate Republican to vote against the Iraq War resolution. He lost his seat in 2006 to a Democrat, then registered as an independent and cast a ballot for Barack Obama in the presidential primary, his first vote for a Democrat.

Bill Ruckelshaus, who served in both the Nixon and Reagan administrations, is also voting for Barack Obama. Ruckhouse said he is voting for Obama because:

Senator Obama has a specific plan that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil, grow our economy, and tackle climate change. Senator Obama’s New Energy for America Plan will invest $150 billion over the next ten years to encourage private efforts to develop clean energy technologies in a clean energy future. Not only is it Obama’s intention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050, but his plan should create millions of new green jobs.

In Maine, the Republicans for Obama group is headed by former Maine Republican Party Chairman Robert Monks and former Republican state Rep. Sherry Huber. The Portland Press-Herald reported that Monks said he was impressed by Obama’s positions on energy policy, conservation and retirement funding. "Obama is good for Maine businesses," he said.

A number of high-profile Republicans have come out in support of Obama. Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Republican former president Dwight Eisenhower, is voting for Obama because:

We want to have the strongest country we can and also the most prosperous … and I think Senator Obama brings to this race a little capacity to engage people not only across the aisle, but across generations and across racial divides and I think he has his eyes firmly set on the long-term strategic picture.

Here is a video of a few of the Republicans for Obama in Indiana:

If you are a Republican who’s ready for a change, and ready for an administration that works across party lines for all Americans, join Republicans for Obama today.

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