Eisenhower's Granddaughter For Obama: Sign Of A GOP Shift?

Washington Independent:

"You'll have to forgive me for being an Eisenhower Republican," joked Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of the former five-star general and two-term Republican president. The man who had helped lead America to victory over the forces of Axis darkness during World War II, then oversaw a period of unprecedented prosperity and suburban satisfaction during the 1950s.

Speaking on the telephone on Aug. 7 from her Washington office at The Eisenhower Institute, a think tank where she serves as president emeritus, the journalist-turned-foreign policy wonk explained her decision to publicly support Barack Obama after a lifetime in the Republican Party.

"I don't know how much you know about my grandfather's administration," Eisenhower said. "But that administration stood for multilateral engagement, balancing the budget. They were the party of civil rights, they were the party of environmental progress. That was the Republican Party of the 1950s. I think you can make the case that doesn't sound like the Republican Party we know today. If you look at the way Obama's run his campaign, to how Hillary Clinton ran her campaign, or even how John McCain's campaign is shaping up -- you can definitely say that Obama's running his campaign in a way an Eisenhower Republican would have run his campaign.

"He raises a lot of money," Eisenhower, 56, said, by way of explaining the similarities she sees between her grandfather and the likely Democratic nominee. "He has very little debt. I just love it. Anybody who wants to make him out as this wide-eyed liberal -- I just don't see any evidence for that, not in the way he runs his campaign. And this tells you a lot about how he can administer things, how he manages things, how he deals with situations.

Read the whole story: Washington Independent

Comments

[rose london]

Thank you Ms Einstshover. God bless you.

[YouDisgustMe]

smart woman

[chucklasker]

Ms. Eisenhower is a publicly known representative of a movement that is spreading throughout the country amongst Republicans. Frustrated with the current state of this country that Bush brought us into, and unable to accept a candidate that promises to continue the exact same direction, many Republicans are looking at Obama. And, like myself, many of us see someone who better represents true Republican core values.

We are meeting together, creating web sites, contacting media, and supporting the Obama campaign, not against McCain, but for Obama. We are Americans first, Republicans second, and we will not, for the sake of loyalty to a party that has betrayed us, blindly support the latest old school candidate chosen for us. But we will also not leave the Party, because we believe and hope that some day it will return to its roots.

http://www.chucklasker.com/politics.html

[barackobama4prez]

I think the moral of her story is...the current republican party doesn't stand for anything. it's a former shell of itself and that's why people are getting the hell out.

[helonias]

I hate to be a downer but Ike okayed the overthrow of Iran's and Iraq's democratically elected govs. because they wanted to nationalize the British controlled oil industries and started the unforeseen chain of events that go us to the point we are now in Iran and Iraq.

Google operation Ajax and Kermit Roosevelt

[HerbTee]

And your point is...? Here's a little history lesson for you too:

a.) President Johnson (Democrat) ordered the invasion of Vietnam with the trumped up "Tonkin Resolution" excuse. Outcome: President uses lies and subterfuge to declare war and invade a country which didn't directly attack us. Sounds familar??

b.) President Carter (Democrat) gave support and solace to the Shah of Iran, when the Iranians clearly hated him and that began Iran's slide into Islamic radicalism (in comes Ayatollah Khomeini).

c.) Presidents Reagan and Bush (Republicans) supported Saddam Hussein with intelligence and financial aid during the Iran-Iraq War, then Bush later attacked Saddam years later in Kuwait and Iraq. The moral: You can keep a wild dog caged, but watch your hands when you feed it!

d.) President Reagan secretly sold arms to the Iranians through Israel while the Iranians held Americans hostage, then used the proceeds for arming the Contras in Central America to skirt around Congressional arms restrictions.

e.) Presidents Eisenhower through Reagan supported Panama dictator Manuel Noriega and had him on the CIA payroll until Bush 41 took him down...ano­ther "wild dog bites hand" scenerio. Noreiga is now silenced and locked away from scrutiny. Oh the stories he could tell!

My point: There ain't an American President living or dead without some filth or blood on his hands. Which is why BO is so important for change now.

[helonias]

My point is $1 trillion of our money silly

[marylandtravelinman]

Is it me or does she look like Debaroh Carr.

http://www.squidoo.com/deborahkerr

[TexasDem0]

In 2004, John Eisenhower, son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, endorsed John Kerry.

[wdw101]

i see that helped him a bunch

[Jamchinadian]

Wonderful post. Thanks you Ms. Eisenhower. IMHO you should be Obama's Veep.

[rovingeyeuk]

Welcome onboard!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww8AeaRLy14

[Biracial1]

Be careful, the racists and bigots will add you to their list.

[Rockwell]

What a powerful campaign add she could make. Contrasting the Republican party as it used to be with the diseased creature it has become starting with Nixon and now under the Chimp.

"Obama, a return to the traditions of Lincoln and Eisenhower"

[abigail1]

I like Ike('s granddaughter)

[wdw101]

wonderful.­......1/4 genetic link......­wow

[Ladyrantsalot]

In the terrific 2005 documentary, "Why We Fight," she reminded us that Ike had not simply warned us to be wary of the military-industrial complex, but that he had warned us that, if left unchecked, there would come a time when the American people, through their constitutional processes, would no longer be able to control it. She noted in that documentary that she thought that moment had arrived (specifically referring to the way we got dragged into Iraq). I think that is probably another reason why she is supporting Obama. Well, that and the fact that the Republican party has pulled the country so far to the right that journalists can run around calling a lifelong conservative Republican like John McCain a "moderate.­"

[cre8ivecurt]

Yes, an EXCELLENT documentary! And it's interesting to note John McCain's interview in the film as well...one great moment when he is trash-talking Dick Cheney and suddenly the phone rings and an assistant's voice tells ol' Johnny that the Vice President is on the phone. Oh, the look on his face!! But definitely a film for all to see!

[Tulu]

Remember the military industrial complex-D. Eisenhower. He is as honest he could be and I am glad to his grand daughters such patriotic American-to put country first not party ideology as the republicans are doing. James Inhofe is something that America not supposed to oppose- human abuse by dictators like Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia- You can read what he is facing in Oklahoma. James Inhofe recruited to block the bill but his own state passed a resolution on May 22, 2008. http://www.oksenate.gov/news/press_releases/press_releases_2008/pr20080522b.html
The Diaspora activists are challenging Inhofe read this:
http://www.ethiomedia.com/accent/7044.html

[wdw101]

do they have oil?

[MajorKong]

They wouldn't let Ike anywhere near the GOP today.

[markusmarkus]

I don't think Ike would go anywhere near today's GOP.

"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishnes­s."
John Kenneth Galbraith