Moderate and Liberal Republicans who are tired of the same old crap in Washington.  Just like Reagan got the Reagan Democrats, Obama will get the Obama Republicans.

This could be a shift in partisan standings in a way similar to Reagan's first election.

is technically not an R.  He switched from (moderate) R to I last year.

But I think the point remains.  Obama can attract the moderate vote, regardless of what party they subscribe to.

The endorsement isn't terribly surprising, given how scathing Chaffee was about the Iraq war vote in his new book:

"I find it surprising now, in 2008, how many Democrats are running for president after shirking their constitutional duty to check and balance this president," writes Chafee. "Being wrong about sending Americans to kill and be killed, maim and be maimed, is not like making a punctuation mistake in a highway bill.

"They argue that the president duped them into war, but getting duped does not exactly recommend their leadership. Helping a rogue president start an unnecessary war should be a career-ending lapse of judgment."

Chafee was the only Republican senator to vote against prosecuting the war. "The top Democrats were at their weakest when trying to show how tough they were," writes Chafee. "They were afraid that Republicans would label them soft in the post-September 11 world, and when they acted in political self-interest, they helped the president send thousands of Americans and uncounted innocent Iraqis to their doom.

"Instead of talking tough or meekly raising one's hand to support the tough talk, it is far more muscular, I think, to find out what is really happening in the world and have a debate about what we really need to accomplish," writes Chafee. "That is the hard work of governing, but it was swept aside once the fear, the war rhetoric and the political conniving took over."

Today, Clinton is all about how she's going to fight for working people.  What did she do to stop their sons & daughters from being sent into a pointless military conflict?  What is all that horse manure about how Obama is just a guy who makes nice speeches?  Where was she when her country needed independent voices standing up against the chicken hawk Dr. Strangeloves in the White House?

Which for a lawyer is nuts -- words can change the world (think about MLK, Jr., Lincoln, JFK, Ghandi, etc.).  Does the Constitution mean anything to her?

the Chafee family has been popular in RI for decades and he cab help Obama with Repubs and independents - and I suspect with $$$$ as well.    

Congressmen John Lewis, D-GA, one of Hillary Clinton's most prominent black backers, announced this evening he is swithcing his support to Senator Obama in hopes of preventing a floor fight at the Democratic convention.  

Here is the New York Times article:

Great news!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02...