Obama’s support among Republicans grows

John Byrne
Raw Story
January 14, 2009

President-elect Barack Obama has quietly been working the halls of Congress in recent weeks — he’s been to Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers three times since his election.

It appears, according to Congressmembers, that Obama’s push is having an effect.

In fact, two “swing vote” senators told a Capitol Hill newspaper in comments published Wednesday that they believe Obama’s aggressive wooing of legislators will win him more votes on the Hill. The two, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), are moderate members of their respective parties and may signal a broader shift in the Capitol.

In comments published Wednesday, Obama received high marks from Republican senators.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), who worked with Obama on government transparency issues in the Senate, offered Obama unconditional praise.

“I think he is sincere — all the time,” Coburn told Roll Call. “I believe it because I know him.”

“He and his staff have done a good job of reaching out to us,” Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) added. “I hope his tone is reflected in the Senate Majority Leader’s tone.”

Sen. Snowe, who generally votes with the Republican caucus but sometimes provides support to Democrats, said Obama’s approach differs markedly from Bush’s. Bush rarely — if ever — appeared on the Hill, and oftentimes when he did it was only for public events, like St. Patrick’s Day.

Obama is “reaching out early on and setting the tone from the start by which, optimally, he will govern,” Snowe remarked.

“Everyone wants him to be successful,” Alabama senator Jeff Sessions added.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn was more cautious, saying the GOP would known “soon enough,” of Obama’s sincerity. But Cornyn is tasked with being the GOP’s attack dog as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee — the equivalent of the Republicans’ Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Added Cornyn, “I’m confident that there will be sufficient differences to distinguish Republicans and Democrats as we move forward.”

In the House, Roll Call noted in a separate article that Republicans have muted their criticisms of the newly elected president. The paper was careful to note, however, that the Republican effort to leave Obama alone may be part of a carefully orchestrated political calculus.

“Republicans’ best friend right now is Obama because Pelosi ends up getting triangulated,” former spokesman for retired House Speaker Dennis Hastert said. “If Republicans attack too early and don’t give him a chance to govern, we come off as sore losers and lose any credibility that we’re rebuilding.”

Even so, the closely-divided Senate is more important to Obama’s legislative agenda, since the Democrats’ margin in the House is far greater. Obama’s outreach could pay major dividends when he attempts to advance his agenda following his inauguration Jan. 20.