Jim Leach (R)

http://learfield.typepad.com/radioiowa/2008/08/jim-leach-endor.html

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

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.

Former Iowa Congressman Jim Leach -- a Republican -- endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama this morning. Leach, as you may recall, lost his bid for re-election in 2006 after three decades representing portions of eastern Iowa in congress. Leach was considered a "moderate" Republican and was a backer of campaign finance reform. Leach did not accept campaign contributions from political action committees.

Leach became a professor at his alma mater -- Princeton -- and then was asked to be the interim director of Harvard University's Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government when its director left to run for the U.S. Senate. The institute's new director is to start September 1, 2008 and Leach will return to Princeton for the fall semester. Leach's wife has contributed the maximum amount allowed to Obama's campaign.

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http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080812/NEWS/80812013

August 12, 2008

Leach endorses Obama today

By JANE NORMAN
REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU

Washington, D.C. – Former Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa, a longtime fixture in Republican politics in the state, announced today that he is endorsing presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

Leach, as a member of Congress, often departed from the Republican party line, including a vote against former Rep. Newt Gingrich as speaker of the House. The announcement nonetheless represented a high-profile Iowa defection from traditional party loyalties. Whether his rejection of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain will sway other moderate Republicans or independents remains to be seen, political observers said.

“Basically, from my perspective, this is simply not a time for politics as usual” because of daunting issues to be faced by the next president, Leach said in a conference call with national reporters. Obama’s platform is a call for change but the change is more “renewal than departure,” said Leach.

“It is rooted in very old American values that are as much a part of the Republican as the Democratic tradition,” including individual rights, fairness and balance at home and “progressive internationalism,” said Leach, a former top member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a former Foreign Service officer.

“Above anything else, frankly, I’m convinced the national interest requires a new approach to our interactions with the world,” including the war in Iraq, he said. Leach voted against the use of force in Iraq, although he was also defeated in 2006 in his eastern Iowa district by an anti-war Democrat.

Leach took part in a conference call organized by the Obama campaign, along with former Sen. Lincoln Chafee, a Rhode Island Republican who voted in the Democratic primary in his state for Obama. They announced the formation of "Republicans for Obama.” The group will have a Web site comparing positions taken by Obama and McCain and a chat room for supporters.

Cary Covington, an associate professor of political science at the University of Iowa, compared Leach’s defection to that of former Sen. Zell Miller, a Georgia Democrat who backed President Bush in 2004 and delivered scathing remarks about his party at the Democratic National Convention.

This year, Sen. Joe Lieberman, who is now an independent but ran as the Democratic nominee for vice president in 2000, is backing McCain.

Covington said politicians don’t cross lines more often because both parties have become so ideological in their philosophies. But he said Leach’s decision is nonetheless surprising because “it’s one thing to not back your own party’s candidate but it’s another thing to come out publicly and endorse another party’s candidate.”

He also said he doubts Leach will bring along many other voters, though he could possibly have an impact among undecided GOP moderates. “I don’t know that it will make a difference,” said Covington. “What he might do is get some people who might not otherwise look at Obama.”

Leach said he has “no doubt” that many other Republicans and independent voters will vote for Obama and “will put country over party in this election.” He said he respects McCain but many Republicans feel angst about the country continuing in its current direction.