Republicans for Obama

In her convention speech tonight, Michelle Obama tugged heartstrings with family stories that made the Obamas seem quite normal, working- to middle-class Americans. And Teddy Kennedy passed the liberal torch with gusto for a man suffering from a brain tumor. But the low-key speech by long-time Iowa Republican Congressman Jim Leach made Obama seem even more palatable to a certain swath of older Republican and independent voters. Here's part of his indictment of George W. Bush era conservatism: The party that once emphasized individual rights has gravitated in recent years toward regulating values. The party of military responsibility has taken us to war with a country that did not attack us. The party that formerly led the world in arms control has moved to undercut treaties crucial to the defense of the earth. The party that prides itself on conservation has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of global warming. And the party historically anchored in fiscal restraint has nearly doubled the national debt, squandering our precious resources in an undisciplined and unprecedented effort to finance a war with tax cuts. It's been a long time since the Republicans could claim any of the virtues Leach attributed to them. In the annals of the break-up of conservatism, this may represent a final falling off of the last vintages of Eisenhower Republicanism, not the foundering of the recent business-religious alliance of convenience. Leach's endorsement may, however, help overcome some voter reticence about Obama, even among older Democrats.