Obamacons ... The New Generation Republican

Both John McCain and Barack Obama are proving true to their word that they can reach across that big partisan divide and appeal to to those on the other side of the aisle. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Obamacans versus McCainocrats.

Over the past few days, it has been widely reported that former Democrat Joseph Lieberman is endorsing presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain. Not only that, it is also being reported that he is being considered for the Veep slot. And today, we hear that former Republican Congressman Jim Leach has officially endorsed the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama. Mr. Leach was a fifteen term Iowa Republican who was defeated in the 2006 mid-term elections. During his Congressional career, Leach was known to be consistently one of the most liberal Republicans in the House. In 2002, Congressman Leach voted against the Iraq War Resolution. During his 30-years in Congress, Leach chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He was also involved in the Clinton's scandal, the Whitewater investigation. Leach told ABC News:

An awful lot of Republicans are more than slightly disgruntled at the direction of the country, more than slightly disappointed at the large deficits and at our foreign policy adventurism. This is the first time I have ever endorsed a Democrat but I think we're at a juncture in our history that we've got to put the national interest ahead of the party interest.

A spokesperson from the McCain camp has this response:

A single endorsement does not hide the fact that Sen. Obama has no record of achievement beyond the confines of his party. While John McCain has spent his career putting the country first — ahead of personal and party interests — Sen. Obama's record is a lesson in partisanship.

Now, given Leach's background and the bills he has authored and co-authored, one might be asking why would Obama want this guy's endorsement? Obama blames the current subprime lending crises on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Note to Obama, Jim Leach co-authored this Act. Earlier this year, the American Banker reported the following:

But Sen. Obama also called the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 too tainted by industry lobbying. Though financial reform was necessary, the result helped cause the subprime crisis, he said.

What will the future bring? Today's Rasmussen's Daily Presidential Tracking Poll is showing that Obama has garnered about 12% of registered Republicans while McCain is being supported by about 16% of registered Democrats. Will more Republican's be turning their Barack's on McCain and even things out? I fear that perhaps, only The Shadow knows (or at this point, cares!).