Posted on 02/10/2007 4:27:18 PM PST by SJackson
She not only is a lifelong Republican, but an anti-big government conservative Republican who campaigned for Robert Dole in 1996. Oh, and one other thing. The mere thought of Hillary Clinton becoming president makes her stomach churn.
As her husband, Robert Stross - also a conservative Republican - puts it, "We don't believe anything Hillary says, and we think she'll do whatever it takes to get elected."
All of which makes the Madison couple's recent decision all the more intriguing: They've joined the Wisconsin chapter of DraftObama.org, a grassroots movement to help the progressive Democratic senator from Illinois win the presidency in 2008. Wann says she even hopes to campaign for Obama after he officially becomes a candidate today.
Why Obama?
All sorts of reasons, said Wann, 40, and Stross, 38, in a recent interview at a Monroe Street coffee shop, just a few blocks from their home.
Foremost, they've heard him speak a number of times and think he's "an incredible orator," Stross says. "And if he does half the things he talks about doing, it will be a wonderful thing."
Adds Wann, "We feel Obama's more in touch with what the true American is really about. As opposed to a president who came from a very rich family and went to Yale and was always kind of sheltered and given everything he wanted.
"I also feel Obama is more patient, and that he really listens to what people say. And I think he'd inspire people, much like (John) Kennedy did."
Most important of all, Wann says, Obama seems sincere about wanting to unite the country. As opposed to Hillary, "who would polarize us even more."
Stross and Wann, who met in Chicago in 1999 and have lived in Madison since their marriage in August 2001, emphasize that they don't agree with all of Obama's positions. For instance, they still have misgivings about his universal health care proposal.
"Having grown up in England, I think universal health care gets a little George Orwellian," Stross says. "It's like, 'Oh, I'm sorry Robert. You're a little too old for a kidney, so we're going to put you on the never-get-one waiting list.' In other words, there are pros and cons to it."
That said, Stross and Wann agree that something must be done to fix the U.S. health care system. They find it disgraceful that there are 46 million Americans without insurance and outlandish that many small businesses can no longer afford to provide health care coverage for their employees.
Stross, who until recently was an independent businessman (he's about to start a management job with a company in the energy field), notes that he and Wann currently have just catastrophic coverage, which costs $400 a month. That means that none of the maternity costs from the recent birth of their son, James, was covered.
"So we're looking at a bill of $12,000," he says.
To be sure, those aren't the only reasons the couple's decided to switch their support to a Democrat.
They believe the Republican Party's been hijacked by the Religious Right and say it's become obsessed with hot button issues like abortion and gay marriage. (The couple are pro-choice and support gay marriage.)
"A true Christian doesn't wear their religion on their sleeve or try to force their views on somebody else. They go about their business quietly," Stross says.
They're outraged by all the lies and distortions the Bush administration used to manipulate public opinion and justify its invasion of Iraq.
And even though there are more women in Congress than ever before, the couple believe the country is still run by an "old boys club" that's been around forever and gets its marching orders from big-money corporate interests.
"It kind of scares me when I look at old pictures of Nixon and there's Cheney sitting right next to him," Wann says. "It's like, whoa! Seems almost incestuous."
Her husband nods.
"I don't know who this Karl Rove guy is - he's not elected to anything, is he?" Stross says with a wry smile. "But apparently he's got his fingers in everything. And, frankly, it's very annoying because this is what all our liberal friends have been saying."
It's true, Stross and Wann acknowledge, that the 45-year-old Obama lacks experience, having served just seven years in the Illinois Senate and two years in Congress. But, they point out, Kennedy lacked experience when he ran for president in 1960 and was even younger (43) than Obama.
Besides, lacking experience today is almost a plus, Wann says. "It means he hasn't been in Congress long enough to be corrupted."
But, realistically, can Obama actually win in 2008?
Yes, Stross and Wann say - especially if blacks embrace his candidacy and vote in large numbers.
The bigger question, they suggest, is whether the Democratic power brokers will allow a free thinker like Obama to get the party's endorsement.
"I really feel like Hillary will get the nomination," Wann says. "And if that happens, it will be truly frightening."
And Stross?
"If Obama wins the nomination, I predict he'll become president."
Pause.
"But it's an awfully big if."
Could happen. I just won't be surprised if in the end it isn't either Hillary! or Obama!.
Obama is a very young black LBJ-type of demonrat with good manners. LBJ spent billions to eliminate poverty and failed - Obama wants to try again. Senator Rodham wants to try again on national (US and Mexico) health care system. Obama sez me too. I think Obama is really running for VP.
There is no way I would ever vote for a man or woman who wants to steal my hard earned money to buy votes from the "poor". (read commie)
LOL.
Just wait until primary time in 08. They'll be lock-step behind Hillary before the first vote is cast.
"She not only is a lifelong Republican, but an anti-big government conservative Republican who campaigned for Robert Dole in 1996."
That was a long time ago, and she doesn't even use her husbands last name.
Like Rudy said about the "broken windows" in NYC after General Dinky put colorful decals of curtains and shades inside of abandoned and burned-out buildings -
"The small lies (crimes) lead to big lies (crimes) - "
[paraphrased]
O'Bomber Jr. is a practicied liar and fakeroo since his early Islamic Madrassa school days
Why should he change now?
I'm sure they will push the "Once Republican turned Democrat" mantra daily. It will be the enlightened transformation from darkness into the light....
And, being that it has become very popular to hate conservatives, it only stands to reason where they will take this.
Of his religious affiliation, Obama has written: I was drawn to the power of the African American religious tradition to spur social change. [...] In the history of these struggles, I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death; rather, it was an active, palpable agent in the world.(a political tool )[...] It was because of these newfound understandings–that religious commitment did not require me to suspend critical thinking(I didn't have to believe in the divinity of Christ), disengage from the battle for economic and social justice, or otherwise retreat from the world that I knew and loved(abandon Islam)–that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ one day and be baptized. It came about as a choice and not an epiphany; the questions I had did not magically disappear. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side of Chicago, I felt God's (he says God, not Jesus Christ. Which God? Allah?)spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth.[114]
Ann Wann and Robert Stross conduct story time for son James with "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama, their choice for president.
----
OH PLEASE!
Lol, you missed the joke in my comment.
Maybe Hillary/Obama team '08!
They are making him ready for the VP spot. A down right spit shine!
I don't think that Hillary is going to get the nomination, unless her comments about the War on Terror (Saddam had WMD, Bin ladin as a threat) are never brought up.
I was just about to make that point.
I don't know many Republican women (aside from celebrities where its more understandable) who keep their last names.
That little baby still thinks his toes are magical.
I'm sure his level of comprehension exceeds that of a frog by now.
That's way up on the liberal scale.
Obama is not going anywhere. "The Beast" will see to that. And if through some miracle she doesn't stop him, the electorate will. ;)
You just know she's having tantrums and chucking ashtrays at heads behind closed doors. It's her M.O., LOL!
Let me this about that: I didn't think there was a person on the face of the earth who could cause me to support Hillary! in any way. But, mirabile dictu, the press has found, or should I say created one. If it came down to a choice between Hillary and Barak, her thighness would have my vote in a heartbeat. As I am not a democrat I'll never have to make that awful choice.
But seriously, who is this guy? To me he is the political equivalent of Paris Hilton, someone who should just.....go away.
Sounds like every Rush seminar caller. "I'm a staunch conservative and voted for Bush twice, but...."
I can tell you why some Dems want Obama.
It's simple, really.
Some of the Democratic party feel as though Hillary Rodham's lengthy rap sheet just might catch up to her in an election (with no small help from F.R. and others in the blogosphere.) They also shudder to think what might happen if Hillary were ever confronted with the 10 or 15 questions for which she has absolutely no answer. (e.g., Sen Clinton, will you...
- Release your Wellesley Senior Thesis?,
-Compare and contrast Marxism and Capitalism?
- Explain the Peter Paul case?
- Explain the pardons of the FALN terrorists?
- Explain the cattle futures profits in light of the fact that (as I recall) the WSJ said that they published no info that would have helped you?
- Explain the mysterious re-appearance of the billing records?
- Explain Craig Livingstone?
- Explain the alleged high number of tax audits of political foes?
- Explain the whereabouts of the White House silverware and china? and explain ...(you get the idea.)
There is no library of Obama exposes, such as there exists for Hillary (many of us own several titles.)
Yet, anyway.
If I understood Dick Morris on Fox News correctly, the Clintons will be (clandestinely) treating all news consumers to some negative scoops relating to the "clean" Mister Obama.
Today I read some of the reader reviews for Osama's book, "Audacity of Hope" Except for a couple of tongue in cheek snide comments, all of the reviews breathlessly praised the book for its amazing wisdsom, and breadth of passion. According to one writer it was positively divine.
I have a sneaking suspicion that most of the reviews were from seminar writers.
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