Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
Press Release
For Immediate Release
October 29, 2004
Contact: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer
Republicans, Independents Backing John Kerry for
President
Former GOP Senator Bob Smith Joins Thousands
of Republicans, Eisenhower, Iacocca, Train, Andersen, Milliken, McPeak,
King, Ventura
Washington, DC – With five days until the
election, Republicans and Independents throughout the country have sent
a
strong message by supporting Democrats John Kerry and John
Edwards.
Republicans and independents from all backgrounds have joined a
national effort
to support the Kerry-Edwards plan to keep America safe and fight for
the middle
class.
Convinced that America needs a fresh start to bring
people together, Republicans and Independents nationwide have joined
together
to support John Kerry for president. On issues ranging from the
economy
and the outsourcing of jobs, to the refusal of the president to support
stem
cell research, to the soaring cost of prescription drugs, George Bush
has not
supported policies that strengthen middle-class families.
Under the Bush administration, the mainstream values Republicans once
cherished have been undermined. Yesterday's Republicans would not
recognize a party that abandons fiscal responsibility. By
contrast, John
Kerry broke with his party in 1985 to cosponsor and vote for the
landmark
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings balanced budget and deficit reduction bill to end
runaway
deficits. Teddy Roosevelt Republicans would not support a party that
loots the
environment and Eisenhower Republicans would not want to belong to a
party that
shreds our alliances and sends soldiers to war without a plan to win
the peace.
Bob Smith, the former New Hampshire senator and fellow Vietnam
veteran, is the most recent prominent Republican to pledge his support
for John
Kerry. In a letter to Kerry on Wednesday, Smith praised the
Democrat as
one “who crossed the aisle to forge a bipartisan coalition in the
Senate
to balance the federal budget.”
Among the other renowned Kerry backers from outside the Democratic
Party are John Eisenhower, son of Republican President Eisenhower; Lee
Iacocca,
former Chrysler CEO; Russell E. Train, former head of the Environmental
Protection Agency for two Republican Presidents; Elmer L. Andersen,
former
Republican governor of Minnesota; William Milliken, former Republican
governor
of Michigan; and retired Gen. Merrill "Tony" McPeak, former chief of
staff of the U.S. Air Force. Well-known independents backing the
Kerry-Edwards ticket include Angus King, former governor of Maine;
and Jesse Ventura, former governor of Minnesota.
In many cases, the new Kerry supporters were previous backers of George
W. Bush and heavily involved in the Republican Party. Iacocca
campaigned
actively for George W. Bush in 2000 and for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and
1984. He even appeared in Bush campaign ads four years ago.
McPeak served as Oregon chairman of Bob Dole's 1996
presidential campaign and in 2000 was co-chairman of Oregon Veterans
for
Bush-Cheney. He is now one of 12 Generals and Admirals supporting
Kerry
in an unprecedented display of support from the military establishment.
Rejecting the Bush administration’s fiscal irresponsibility and
go-it-alone foreign policy, Eisenhower views Kerry as a leader fully
capable of
“ending secrecy and bringing truth and honesty back to the White
House.” Eisenhower, a lifelong Republican and previously an
ambassador to Belgium, was one of 180 former U.S. ambassadors
from Republican and Democratic administrations to endorse Kerry to
bolster America’s
national security.
Former governors and generals are not alone in rejecting the divisive
leadership of George W. Bush in favor of the unifying, positive vision
of John
Kerry. Forty-three newspapers, including Bush’s hometown Crawford
paper, the Lone Star Iconoclast,
endorsed Kerry after having backed Bush in 2000. John Kerry is
the first
Democrat to be endorsed by the Bangor Daily
News since the 19th century. The Orlando Sentinel had not done
such a thing
in 40 years.
Meanwhile, the conservative Detroit
News, in refusing to support a second term for Bush, withheld
its endorsement from a Republican for only the third time in two
centuries. The other two times were during Franklin Roosevelt’s
re-election bids. The Tampa Tribune,
which has not endorsed a Democrat for President since 1952, also
declined to
endorse Bush.
The prominent Republican and independent endorsements have added
momentum to the national Republicans for Kerry operation as it
mobilizes
non-Democrats nationwide to get out the vote for Kerry-Edwards.
There are
more than 50 members of the Republicans for Kerry leadership committee
in 17
states. Republicans for Kerry are also mobilizing support at the
grassroots level. More than 2,700 Republicans have joined
Republicans for
Kerry, either by signing up on the website,
www.republicansvotekerry.com, or
pledging their support on paper.
Republicans and independents at both the national and grassroots levels
are united in their efforts to put country before party. They are
sending
a powerful message that the upcoming election is not about Democrats
and
Republicans—it’s about strengthening the middle class and making
America
stronger and more secure. George Bush has failed on both accounts
during
his four years in office. John Kerry and John Edwards have a plan
for
success that puts the American people first.
“The security of our country is not a partisan issue,”
McPeak said. “The real deal for me is not whether a strategy or a plan
or
an idea is Republican or Democrat, but whether it makes us safer. And
it means
an awful lot to me that John Kerry fought for his country as a young
man.”
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