Why I'm Backing Obama by Susan Eisenhower

[IndianaGreen]

Why I'm Backing Obama

By Susan Eisenhower
Saturday, February 2, 2008; Page A15

Forty-seven years ago, my grandfather Dwight D. Eisenhower bid farewell to a nation he had served for more than five decades. In his televised address, Ike famously coined the term "military-industrial complex," and he offered advice that is still relevant today. "As we peer into society's future," he said, we "must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."

Today we are engaged in a debate about these very issues. Deep in America's heart, I believe, is the nagging fear that our best years as a nation may be over. We are disliked overseas and feel insecure at home. We watch as our federal budget hemorrhages red ink and our civil liberties are eroded. Crises in energy, health care and education threaten our way of life and our ability to compete internationally. There are also the issues of a costly, unpopular war; a long-neglected infrastructure; and an aging and increasingly needy population.

I am not alone in worrying that my generation will fail to do what my grandfather's did so well: Leave America a better, stronger place than the one it found.

Given the magnitude of these issues and the cost of addressing them, our next president must be able to bring about a sense of national unity and change. As we no longer have the financial resources to address all these problems comprehensively and simultaneously, setting priorities will be essential. With hard work, much can be done.

The biggest barrier to rolling up our sleeves and preparing for a better future is our own apathy, fear or immobility. We have been living in a zero-sum political environment where all heads have been lowered to avert being lopped off by angry, noisy extremists. 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.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020102621.html?referrer=emailarticlepg

[Inuca]

1. Interesting

The whole thing, ending in this

If the Democratic Party chooses Obama as its candidate,

this lifelong Republican

will work to get him elected and encourage him to seek strategic solutions to meet America's greatest challenges. To be successful, our president will need bipartisan help.

[ray of light]

2. Don't forget how the Eisenhower's came out for JK in 2004. They

represent the moderate Republicans who have crossed over to support Democratic candidates because the Republicans have just gone extreme to the 'business conservative' and the 'religious fundamentalism.'

This endorsement means a lot to me, because, I believe most of America considers themselves to be along the lines of an Eisenhower. WE are talking and saying the same thing as those former Republicans. That means we're not the extreme lefty, commie, socialist-pigs that the right winged smear campaign has brainwashed people into thinking.

What it means is that we actually have a lot in common and that we can do to work together with them to bring about positive change. I know Kerry in 04 fought to get that message out--but it was like fighting inside a vacuum because the media just blocked out his words and presented theirs instead. But Obama is working to bring everyone to the table--to work together--for the common good.

[Inuca]

3. She also

gave an interview to Newsweek about this, Ruchard Wolffe article linked somewhere in GDP. I wonder whether/when other similar-minded republicans may come out as well...