Calling All Conservatives, Republicans and Libertarians (for Change)

Read about these people, all of whom are Republicans, conservatives or Independents. All of them have decided they cannot and will not vote for John McCain. Some are disgusted by McCain's viciously negative campaign, some don't think Sarah Palin should be anywhere near the White House, some believe Obama and his powerful leadership skills and ability to unite the nation are too good to pass up. I found their explanations very moving, patriotic even.

More evidence that growing numbers of Republicans and conservatives are abandoning McCain to switch to Obama is found in a newly released poll of rural voters in 13 swing states, including New Mexico, that has Obama and McCain neck and neck. A month ago, Obama was trailing with these voters by 10 points. The poll was commissioned by the nonpartisan Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Kentucky.

Almost 20% of Americans live in rural areas, and they tend to be social and fiscal conservatives. Bush won rural districts nationwide by 19 points in 2004. Times have changed.

The phenomenon of conservatives and libertarians supporting Obama is explored in an article in the Economist about the so-called "Obamacons." Excerpt:

Many disillusioned Republicans hoped that Mr McCain would provide a compass for a party that has lost its way, but now feel that the compass has gone haywire. Kenneth Adelman, who once described the invasion of Iraq as a “cakewalk”, decided this week to vote for Mr Obama mainly because he regards Sarah Palin as “not close to being acceptable in high office.”

The rise of the Obamacons is more than a reaction against Mr Bush’s remodelling of the Republican Party and Mr McCain’s desperation: there were plenty of disillusioned Republicans in 2004 who did not warm to John Kerry. It is also a positive verdict on Mr Obama. For many conservatives, Mr Obama embodies qualities that their party has abandoned: pragmatism, competence and respect for the head rather than the heart. Mr Obama’s calm and collected response to the turmoil on Wall Street contrasted sharply with Mr McCain’s grandstanding.

And it's not just intellectuals like Christopher Buckley and leaders like Colin Powell who are moving into the Obama column:

... the revolt of the intellectuals is coinciding with a migration of culturally conservative voters—particularly white working-class voters—into Obamaland. Mr Obama is now level-pegging or leading among swing-groups such as Catholics and working-class whites. A recent Washington Post-ABC poll shows him winning 22% of self-described conservatives, a higher proportion than any Democratic nominee since 1980.

The question is, what percentage of Republicans will cross over on election day, and what affect will this have on down-ticket races here and around the country? There's anecdotal evidence that a fair share of Rs will secretly vote Dem this year, still reticent to tell their friends and colleagues they've defected. Combine these silent switch-overs with those willing to admit they've had enough of the Bush-McCain-Rove way of doing business in Washington, and we just might have a real mandate-type victory for Obama, with coat-tails to match. Think Tom Udall, Martin Heinrich, Ben Ray Lujan and even Harry Teague, down there in conservative and rural NM-02. Yowsa.

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