A surprising mix of past Republican political players, who once worked under previous GOP luminaries President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and Senator Mitt Romney, publicly declared their support for Vice President Kamala Harris in a recent statement. The revelation was made via a letter obtained by USA TODAY, raising quite a few eyebrows. This unusual move happens right after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which made headlines for featuring several Republicans with differing views about their own party’s standard-bearer.
Moreover, the letter bore the signatures of five key staff members from the era of the late President George H.W. Bush, contributing to a robust total of 238 signatories. Interestingly, this is not the first time such unity across party lines has been witnessed; it echoes an earlier endorsement from about 150 former staff members of Bush, McCain, and Romney who had pledged their support for President Joe Biden during the dramatic 2020 election cycle.
The letter, a historical piece in its own right, boldly declared, ‘Today, we regroup along with fresh supporters from the George H.W. Bush tenure to reaffirm our previous declarations from 2020, and wholly state for the first time that our votes will go to Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz this coming November.’ The shift is monumental but explained due to ‘simply untenable’ alternative options, the letter further clarified without elaborating extensively.
Among the Republican veterans openly endorsing Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, were key figures like Mark Salter and Chris Koch, both former McCain chiefs of staff, Joe Donoghue, previous legislative director for McCain, Jennifer Lux, press secretary for McCain’s 2008 campaign, and Jean Becker, George H.W. Bush’s longtime chief of staff. This outpouring of bipartisan support is quite noteworthy.
Furthermore, the list extended to include some equally significant players such as David Nierenberg, finance chair for Romney’s 2012 campaign, David Garman, a former undersecretary of Energy under George W. Bush, and finally, Olivia Troye, an advisor to both George W. Bush and Vice President Mike Pence. Troye, in fact, spoke passionately at the DNC convention that has been grabbing attention lately, casting even more light on the unexpected endorsement.
The letter, while strong in its support for Harris, also subtly criticized the potential for disorder under a continued Trump leadership, saying ‘Another four years of Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.’ But swiftly, the letter refocuses on the perils abroad under Trump’s leadership, albeit briefly.
Unsurprisingly, the strained relationship between the McCain, Romney, and Bush camps and Trump is well-known in political circles. Despite his clear opposition to Trump, Romney has yet to publicly endorse Harris. Meanwhile, the silent dissent is also felt from Bush’s direction. Maintaining his family’s long-running disdain for Trump, Bush did not attend the latest Republican National Convention, but he hasn’t overtly criticized Trump either.
Interestingly, the list of signatories stretches even beyond the expected circles, bringing in Republicans with a variety of backgrounds and career paths. For instance, Reed Galen, McCain’s deputy campaign manager and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, along with Jim Swift, former Republican operative, and senior editor of The Bulwark, an anti-Trump news and opinion site, along with Mike Murphy, McCain’s former campaign strategist, all have signed on to this shared declaration.
Catalyzing this shocking wave of support, the group harnessed 2020 exit poll results and other voter data as evidence. With their help, ‘moderate Republicans and conservative independents in key swing states’ who were pivotal in Biden’s victory have been encouraged to make an impact again. In their words, these are Americans who ‘put country far before party,’ continuing the call to unite once again and support Harris over Trump this autumn.
Efforts to capitalize on this rebellion within Republican ranks have been evident in the Harris campaign’s recent strategy. In fact, they have attempted to spotlight their support from Republican detractors of Trump, creating a ‘Republicans for Harris’ group and featuring Republican speakers at their convention.
Prominent Republicans who showed up to score Harris some points included Adam Kinzinger, former Illinois Representative, who served on the House panel that investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the previous election; Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s former press secretary; John Giles, Mayor of Mesa, Arizona, and Geoff Duncan, former Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. Even Pence, Trump’s Vice President, has withheld his endorsement for Trump’s reelection.
More interestingly, just over this past weekend, several esteemed Republican lawyers, who served former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, also expressed their endorsement for Harris. The group even included Michael Luttig, a conservative former federal appellate judge who anticipates voting for a Democratic president for the first time.
Regardless of the political stir these endorsements might cause, it’s important to remember that these are individuals exerting their power to vote as they see fit. They are exercising their democratic right and freedom to support the candidate they believe will best lead the country, notwithstanding previous affiliations. Such a scenario is indeed reflective of the complexity and nuance in American politics.
Unprecedented Unity: GOP Veterans Put Backing Behind Harris appeared first on Real News Now.
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