As A Moderate Republican Until This Election, Here Are Some Talking Points To Convince Other Moderate Republicans or Independents to Vote for Obama
I know there have been many people who have posted diaries on this subject recently (about how they are a Republican and voting for Obama). Examples of recent diaries are as follows:
like
Conservatives for Obama: Somethings to think about.
"We Are Out Here- Updated"
I think this is a really important trend and something that really can potentially be a deciding factor in some swing states.
So, I thought I would introduce myself to you a bit. I am an Evanglical Christian who believes strongly in separation of church and state (I mean our country was founded on religious tolerance and religious freedom for goodness sake so Palin scares the bloody heck out of me). I also voted for Bush 2 times (please don't be mad at me...the first time, I just felt that Gore was too closely associated with the Clintons and the Clintons had been mired in scandal after scandal...and the second time, I did not really focus on the election very much and when it came to watching the debates, I was not impressed with Kerry and it just seemed like it was picking the better of the 2 evils). So, I know that I am different than most people at DailyKos and, as such, I would like to share with you my progression from being a Moderate Republican to being a die-hard Obama supporter (who probably will be voting for all Democrats downticket this year).
Anyway here is my story. During this election cycle, before the Primaries really got heated up (like back in September or October of 2007), I was really impressed with what I had seen from Barack Obama. He seemed like a straight-shooter, a pragmatist, an honest, smart, and very forward-looking person. Another Republican friend of mine asked me around that time who I was planning on voting for, and I said Obama. He looked at me like I was crazy, and he said that he was supporting Fred Thompson.
I went to a grassroots organizing meeting for Obama in January 2008. At first, I went to this meeting just to gauge the local interest level in Obama and after doing some research on his policy positions and background, I realized that Obama was our last, best hope for transforming our country into the nation that it can be...to living up to our full potential by taking our country back from the corporate lobbyists and special-interests. I was very impressed with the passion of the people attending this meeting and the sheer number of people interested in Obama's campaign. I became very involved in the Obama campaign and canvassed the neighborhood, phonebanked, donated to, and coordinated the Obama campaign efforts for my caucus location.
So as an Obamacan, humility (i.e. ability to acknowledge mistakes and his willingness and desire to learn from those mistakes and accept responsibility for his actions) is the first thing that I noticed and appreciated about Obama. Over time, I realized that many of my stances on issues are the same as his (though there are notable differences as well), but the bottom line is that Obama's character is what drew me to his campaign originally, and his character (truthfulness, intellectual curiousity, kindness, love for people, peace, joy, and patience) is what fires me up and gives me hope that our nation can really change and be better than it is today.
Now to the gist of this diary, this is what you might want to focus on if you are trying to reach out to former or current Republicans who like Obama but are just not sure about him. A possible script is as follows:
"I understand your quandary on who you are going to vote for in the upcoming election. I have talked to other Republicans, and the sense I get is that the Republican Party that used to exist in the days of Reagan no longer exists. Reagan built a strong coalition that has broken apart and that was evidenced by the disparity in the types of candidates who ran for President in the Republican Party. I mean you had Romney (who appealed to the real "Conservatives" of the Republican Party), you had Huckabee (who appealed to the Religious Right and the economic populists), you had Thompson and Guiliani (who both fizzled out before they really got going), you had Ron Paul (who was the more libertarian, traditional, less-government Republican), and you had McCain (who was viewed as the "Moderate Republican" during the Republican Primary but ended up morphing into something completely different after he gained the GOP nomination).
I understand how disappointed you must feel in your choices this year, and I know how you feel, but the Republican Party has changed in the last 8 years...GW Bush has destroyed the Republican Party more than the Democrats ever could [to which they will probably shake their heads]. I mean heck, even McCain has changed since the Republican Primary ended in February / March. As many people have said, the McCain of 2000 would not vote for the McCain of 2008. It is pretty obvious that the Neo-Cons have hijacked the Republican Party. And McCain after he became the Presumptive Republican Nominee buckled to the Neo-Cons, and McCain has become a Neo-Con who believes in drilling, in making the tax cuts permanent, in wanting to implement the gas tax,and in picking a running mate who is so far right that she makes GW Bush and Cheney look sane.
I mean, it was fairly easy to see during the Republican National Convention that the Republican Party has shifted very far right and seems to be dominated by a unholy alliance of fascists (hypernationalists with the slogan "Country First"), war profiteers (who are sabre-rattling Russia over Georgia), and religious zealots (a la the Dobsons and Perkins of the world).
McCain does not have the temperament to be POTUS - he makes rash decisions, lies incessantly, and panders. In the most important decision yet of his career, he (a 72 year old, 4 time cancer survivor) rolled the dice with the lives of millions of Americans by selecting Palin, the unvetted 2 term mayor of a town the size of some condominium complexes who also served for 20 months as Governor of a state where she is being investigated for abuse of power, ranks 1st in occurrences of rape and incest, and 47th? in education. [See http://www.adn.com/... for more info on Alaska's abysmal education system.] Picking Palin was reckless for the country and the world, and provides a snapshot into his psyche and how he makes decisions. Conversely, Obama picked Biden, a proven commodity who can help him in governing our nation during these very difficult times."
I hope this helps!
It is important I think to not deride Reagan or tell them how stupid they have been or that the Republican Party has always been. Because speaking as a Republican up until this election, that will do no good. While you might not like Reagan, you can keep that to yourself because it really does no good and is part of the past.
Remember the old adage, "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar".
Anyway, make no mistake about it, since the GOP has ignited this culture war, it is imperative to convince all undecideds or even lean McCain supporters (heck, even work on the ardent McCain supporters) to vote for Obama (or to vote for Barr or write-in another candidate). We will need all the votes for Obama that we can get to make sure that Obama not only wins this election but that he wins it handily. Go Obama, the next POTUS!