Eisenhower, a founding director and former president of the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute who is now a business consultant and author, pledged to campaign for Obama in the fall campaign if he becomes the Democratic nominee. "This lifelong Republican will work to get him elected and encourage him to seek strategic solutions to meet America's greatest challenges," she wrote. "To be successful, our president will need bipartisan help."
Eisenhower noted that in 1952, both major parties wanted her grandfather, a retired five-star general and hero of World War II, as their presidential candidate. He eventually chose to run as a Republican and won the presidency with the "indispensable" help of a "Democrats for Eisenhower" movement.
"These crossover voters were attracted by his pledge to bring change to Washington and by the prospect that he would unify the nation," she wrote.
Meanwhile, It's All-Out War Between the GOP Candidates
The Republican Eisenhower's endorsement of the Democrat Obama might also have been prompted by the increasing internecine warfare between the leading GOP candidates. McCain and Romney wasted no time in going for each other's jugular -- both during their heated debate Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California and in the days since.
In sharp contrast to the Clinton-Obama debate on Thursday, McCain, the newly-minted GOP front-runner, clashed heatedly Tuesday night with Romney over Iraq and the economy, sometimes with tough talk, sometimes with dueling sets of facts, in the final GOP debate before Tuesday's vote.
Fresh from a Florida primary victory last Tuesday and an endorsement by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani the next day, McCain alternately flashed anger and used acid sarcasm as he and Romney argued over whether Romney once endorsed timetables for ending U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Even before the debate, McCain cited the previous Friday a Romney interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" last April. "Well," the former Massachusetts governor told ABC, "there's no question that [President Bush] and [Iraqi] Prime Minister [Nouri] al-Maliki have to have a series of timetables and milestones that they speak about, but those shouldn't be for public pronouncement."
Romney cried foul then and protested again Tuesday during the debate, which was also televised on CNN. "Unequivocally, absolutely no," he insisted. "I have never, ever supported a specific timetable for exit from Iraq, and it's offensive to me that someone would suggest that I have."
McCain barnstormed through a skeptical South on Saturday, campaigning for a "Super Tuesday" knockout against Romney. "I assume that I will get the nomination of the party," McCain told reporters, the front-runner so confident that he decided to challenge Romney in his home state of Massachusetts.
Romney, on the other hand, celebrated a caucus victory Saturday in Maine and told reporters he plans to do well on Tuesday, "planning on getting the kind of delegates and support that shows that my effort is succeeding, and taking that across the nation. . . I am encouraged by the support which I'm seeing grow for me."
Behind the Feud: A Power Struggle for the 'Soul of the GOP' Not Seen Since 1964
Behind the McCain-Romney feud is an even bigger battle going on: A full-scale power struggle pitting moderates and traditional conservatives against right-wing hard-liners for the future direction of the Republican Party -- a power struggle that hasn't been this ferocious since the epic battle between liberal Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York and conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for the GOP nomination in 1964.
At the GOP convention in San Francisco that year, Goldwater won the nomination, along with conservative Representative William Miller of New York -- in a snub of Rockefeller -- as his running mate. In his acceptance speech, Goldwater said, among other things, that "we brand communism as a principal disturber of peace in the world today."
But more famously (and used to great effect against him by President Lyndon Johnson), Goldwater said that "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." That alienated GOP moderates and liberals -- who Goldwater and his conservative supporters railed against as "the eastern liberal establishment."
Looking back, some Republicans, including those within Goldwater's own campaign staff, now acknowledge that those remarks irreparably damaged Goldwater's chances of winning the November election, as he refused to have anything to do with the moderates and liberals in the Republican Party.
Eisenhower noted that in 1952, both major parties wanted her grandfather, a retired five-star general and hero of World War II, as their presidential candidate. He eventually chose to run as a Republican and won the presidency with the "indispensable" help of a "Democrats for Eisenhower" movement.
"These crossover voters were attracted by his pledge to bring change to Washington and by the prospect that he would unify the nation," she wrote.
Meanwhile, It's All-Out War Between the GOP Candidates
The Republican Eisenhower's endorsement of the Democrat Obama might also have been prompted by the increasing internecine warfare between the leading GOP candidates. McCain and Romney wasted no time in going for each other's jugular -- both during their heated debate Wednesday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California and in the days since.
In sharp contrast to the Clinton-Obama debate on Thursday, McCain, the newly-minted GOP front-runner, clashed heatedly Tuesday night with Romney over Iraq and the economy, sometimes with tough talk, sometimes with dueling sets of facts, in the final GOP debate before Tuesday's vote.
Fresh from a Florida primary victory last Tuesday and an endorsement by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani the next day, McCain alternately flashed anger and used acid sarcasm as he and Romney argued over whether Romney once endorsed timetables for ending U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Even before the debate, McCain cited the previous Friday a Romney interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" last April. "Well," the former Massachusetts governor told ABC, "there's no question that [President Bush] and [Iraqi] Prime Minister [Nouri] al-Maliki have to have a series of timetables and milestones that they speak about, but those shouldn't be for public pronouncement."
Romney cried foul then and protested again Tuesday during the debate, which was also televised on CNN. "Unequivocally, absolutely no," he insisted. "I have never, ever supported a specific timetable for exit from Iraq, and it's offensive to me that someone would suggest that I have."
McCain barnstormed through a skeptical South on Saturday, campaigning for a "Super Tuesday" knockout against Romney. "I assume that I will get the nomination of the party," McCain told reporters, the front-runner so confident that he decided to challenge Romney in his home state of Massachusetts.
Romney, on the other hand, celebrated a caucus victory Saturday in Maine and told reporters he plans to do well on Tuesday, "planning on getting the kind of delegates and support that shows that my effort is succeeding, and taking that across the nation. . . I am encouraged by the support which I'm seeing grow for me."
Behind the Feud: A Power Struggle for the 'Soul of the GOP' Not Seen Since 1964
Behind the McCain-Romney feud is an even bigger battle going on: A full-scale power struggle pitting moderates and traditional conservatives against right-wing hard-liners for the future direction of the Republican Party -- a power struggle that hasn't been this ferocious since the epic battle between liberal Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York and conservative Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for the GOP nomination in 1964.
At the GOP convention in San Francisco that year, Goldwater won the nomination, along with conservative Representative William Miller of New York -- in a snub of Rockefeller -- as his running mate. In his acceptance speech, Goldwater said, among other things, that "we brand communism as a principal disturber of peace in the world today."
But more famously (and used to great effect against him by President Lyndon Johnson), Goldwater said that "I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." That alienated GOP moderates and liberals -- who Goldwater and his conservative supporters railed against as "the eastern liberal establishment."
Looking back, some Republicans, including those within Goldwater's own campaign staff, now acknowledge that those remarks irreparably damaged Goldwater's chances of winning the November election, as he refused to have anything to do with the moderates and liberals in the Republican Party.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
