Obama Republicans

This article, by Bruce Bartlett of The New Republic, looks into the unusual phenomenon of conservatives backing Obama, with the most liberal voting record in the US Senate.

The Republican party could be in its last year of existence if the pro-business and libertarian wings of the party defect en masse to Obama. Many critics mention Obama's anti-NAFTA rhetoric but it must be kept in mind that he is a Democrat and must appeal to precisely the people who believe they have lost their jobs to NAFTA. And yet Hillary Clinton, wife of the man who signed NAFTA into law, has won the votes of the white working class. Michigan? Ohio? Pennsylvania? As shown by the Democratic primaries, Obama needs the votes of the NAFTA-haters to win the White House. However, if Obama wants to revive the economy and deliver on his promise of change, he will have to embrace more conservative economic policies instead of the protectionism that he has espoused during the campaign.

One thing that has rarely been mentioned, even by the Clinton campaign, is the economic prosperity of the 1990's. Much of the credit for the '90s boom goes to Bill Clinton's NAFTA and that decade's globalization. However, in today's turbulent times, especially in industrial states, much of the electorate blames the nation's economic woes on free trade. McCain admirably took the path of telling industrial state voters that their jobs aren't coming back, and he has paid the political price for it. Obama has railed against NAFTA during the campaign but Obama has shown a willingness to listen to his advisers that is lacking in the stubborn Republican John McCain. His economic team is composed of highly competent economists such as chief advisor Austan Goolsbee and former Fed chief Paul Volcker, as well as business leaders such as investment titan Warren Buffet. Surely these men experienced in the business world will whisper to Obama to perhaps discard the Democratic tradition of protectionism and borrow a page from the last Democratic administration's economic playbook.

As a pro-business liberal myself, I look forward to the fall defection of like-minded socially liberal professionals trapped in the Republican party only because of its business-friendly policies. Hopefully, pragmatism will win out over populism in the Obama administration.

Rev. Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson take a walk on the beach

Al Gore strikes again with a new series of ads on saving the planet. So far, Sharpton and Robertson have been featured along with Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich. What next, Nazis and Jews?

*note* I am a fervent supporter of Al Gore's climate change agenda and do not endorse the creator of the third video for his position of being an environmentalist and a climate change skeptic. However I was thinking the same thoughts about the ads.

Yes We Can

12:54 PM. The moment Hillary Clinton endorsed Barack Obama and suspended her campaign, finally uniting the Democratic Party.

Clinton's speech was centered on the historic importance of this campaign, showcasing both her own struggle for women, but also Obama's struggle for African-Americans. She followed remarks about the women's suffrage movement with remarks about slavery and civil rights.

Clinton also emphasized that although her campaign was over, her fight for her causes is far from over. Many times she noted that in order to achieve the goals her campaign has stood for, her supporters need to follow her in throwing their full support behind Barack Obama. She remains optimistic about the election, telling her supporters not to give up in pursuing their goals. Clinton even reached out to young voters in telling them not to give up their struggle despite her failed presidential bid, rhetoric more fitting for Obama's campaign. Clinton borrowed heavily from Obama's campaign in throwing her support behind him, even using his signature "Yes We Can" line.
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Although many observers, include myself, would have rather seen a concession speech from Clinton on Tuesday night when Obama secured the nomination, today's speech was just what was needed to start the unification of the Democratic Party. It will be interesting to see just how Hillary will get involved in the campaign. Her official renunciation of any "campaigning" for the VP slot earlier this week may be criticized as a calculated political move, especially considering her past comments on the issue, however her concession did not appear to have any VP ambitions. The Obama campaign has responded positively to the speech, and senior Hillary supporters including Terry McAuliffe and James Carville have pledged her support to Obama's campaign.

A strange (but not surprising) misinformed piece from Fox, maintaining that Hillary is keeping herself in the race and not supporting Obama. This was published today, while Hillary announced her withdrawal from the race on Thursday.