"Republicans For Obama" Take The Stage

The Obama campaign is today unveiling endorsements from Republicans who support Obama, among them former U.S. Rep. and Foreign Service officer Jim Leach.

Leach was on a conference call this morning with two other Republicans backing the presumptive Democratic nominee: Former Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chaffee and former White House intelligence advisor Rita E. Hauser, a onetime fundraiser for President Bush.

On the call, the Obama campaign indicated that a Web site will be launched in the next few days to lay out Obama and John McCain's policies, so Republicans can "learn" whose beliefs more closely match their own. The call's participants suggested that Obama's positions fall closer to traditional Republicans principles than McCain's, particularly on foreign affairs.

The call was, in fact, largely, focused largely on foreign affairs, and Hauser, addressing the situation in Georgia, deemed McCain's response "bellicose."

Leach, meanwhile, said he hoped that Obama will consider Chuck Hagel, a Republican not as of now one of the "Republicans For Obama," as his running mate.

Leach also said Obama offers the sort of leadership "that the world is crying out for," adding that "the national interest demands a new approach to our interaction with the world."

The Republican National Committee responded to the Obama campaign's push by releasing a statement from spokesman Alex Conant saying, "Barack Obama's claims to bipartisan appeal are as thin as his record. Republicans will vote for a Commander-in-Chief ready to lead – not a partisan politician who is only ready to raise taxes and increase spending."

The McCain campaign, meanwhile, sent out an email noting that "Leach co-authored the Gramm-Leach-Bliley act which Obama blames for the subprime lending crisis."