| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Home Front: Politix | |
| Ike spins in grave - Susan Eisenhower stumps for Obama | |
| 2008-10-23 | |
| NAPLES -- America was amidst change during the Eisenhower years. The United States had survived the Depression and World War II, guided by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Yes, there was the start of the Cold War with the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as well as the Sen. Joseph McCarthy witch hunts and intervention in Korea, but the Vietnam era was not yet upon us. So, generally speaking, many tend to view Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential years -- 1953 to 1961 -- with fairly pleasant memories: World War II veterans were moving their families to the suburbs on G.I. loans, there were cookouts in backyards during the summer, we drank Kool-Aid, ate Jell-O and watched "I Love Lucy." Now, the formerly-Republican granddaughter of President Eisenhower is stumping for Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama, because it is time, again, for real change, Susan Eisenhower said Sunday afternoon. Local reaction to Eisenhower's endorsement was disappointment. Naples GOP Chairwoman Carla Dean, who was en route to a Republican meeting in Orlando, called it "unfortunate." "How in the world could any Republican support a Democratic candidate, (who opposes) everything we hold dear," she said. Dean wondered how the granddaughter of one of the nation's great Republican presidents could take this position. An expert on international security and the relationship between the U.S. and Russia, Susan Eisenhower is the president of the Eisenhower Group. In Southwest Florida on Sunday for a whirlwind meeting with Obamacans -- Republicans who have chosen to endorse Obama -- Eisenhower, 56, said the nation is at a critical juncture. "I think he has the capacity to be a great American president," Eisenhower said. She was especially joyous that Gen. Colin Powell had just announced his support for Obama. "I'd like to associate myself with all the points he made," she said of Powell. Her first personal experience with Obama was 1-1/2 years ago when he called her to chat. While impressed that he contacted her, Eisenhower told him she is a devoted Republican. "He said, 'I understand that. I'm just calling you for your ideas.' I was immensely flattered. ... This was an exceptional approach... extraordinary," Eisenhower said, adding that she never had a candidate from another party call her. He asked her to brief his staff. "I really believed Obama has some extraordinary qualities, an extraordinary temperament. People who work for Barack Obama love this man," Eisenhower said. He is inspired and inspiring, but also reminds her of her grandfather, she said. "He has run his campaign the way an Eisenhower would have run government ... 100 percent control," she said. Obama's campaign "doesn't have debt," she said, noting that she's a fiscal conservative. "Obama's run his campaign the way I hope our government will be governed."
We are now in a critical period of history, she said. How did FDR bring us out of the depression, she asked. "He said, 'There is nothing to fear but fear itself,'" she said. | |
| Posted by:Besoeker |