CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama often says he will be a candidate that will bring both parties together, and Saturday he named a few of the Republicans he would reach out to if elected.
''There are some very capable Republicans who I have a great deal of respect for,'' Obama said in an interview with the Associated Press. ''The opportunities are there to create a more effective relationship between parties.''
Among the Republicans he would seek help from are senators Richard Lugar of Indiana, John Warner of Virginia, and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Obama said.
''On foreign policy I've worked very closely with Dick Lugar,'' Obama said. ''I consider him one of my best friends in the Senate. He's someone I would actively seek counsel and advice from when it came to foreign policy.''
''Senator Warner is another example of somebody with great wisdom, although I don't always agree with him on every issue,'' Obama said. ''I would also seek out people like Tom Coburn, who is probably the most conservative member of the U.S. Senate. He has become a friend of mine.''
Part of Washington's problem is that President Bush has created a partisan atmosphere, he said.
''The Bush-Cheney administration has perfected the perpetual campaign, what I call the 50-plus-one election strategy, where you just presume half the country is red and half the country is blue,'' Obama said.
Later in Miami, Obama reiterated his call for Cuban-American families to be able to have more contact with their relatives in Cuba.
To rousing applause at the same Little Havana auditorium where Republican Ronald Reagan once campaigned, Obama said, ''Just 90 miles from here there is a country where justice and freedom are out of reach. That's why my policy toward Cuba will be guided by one word: liberty.''
He said there are no better ambassadors for change on the communist island than the Cuban-Americans who send money to relatives.
''It can help make their families less dependent on Fidel Castro. That's the way to bring about real change in Cuba,'' Obama said. ''It's time we had a president who realized that.''
Obama addressed a crowd of more than 1,000 four days after he published an opinion piece in The Miami Herald that said restrictions that limit how often Cuban-Americans can travel to Cuba to visit family and how much money they can send relatives should be loosened.
The Cuban-exile vote is considered key to winning Florida, and top presidential candidates have generally followed the recommendations of the community's most hard-line and vocal leaders, who support a full embargo against Castro's government.
But many in the large Cuban-American population want to be able to visit and help family and support the idea of looser restrictions.
Obama said he wouldn't lift the current trade embargo, adding that his offer to normalize relations in a post-Castro Cuba would be made after the country opened up to democratic change.
''Until there's justice in Cuba, there's no justice anywhere,'' Obama said. ''We will talk to our enemies as well as our friends and both to our enemies and to our friends, we will tell them the truth and tell them what we stand for.''
Obama was in Florida at the same time the Democratic National Committee voted to strip Florida of all its presidential delegates if the state party sticks to a plan for a January 29 primary. He said, however, that Florida will still be a large player in the general election and that he will seek to remain competitive in the state.
''The national party has a difficult task, which is to try to create some order out of chaos,'' Obama said. ''My job is really not to speculate on how to make it all work. I'm a candidate, I'm like a player on the field. I shouldn't be setting up the rules.'' (Brendan Farrington, AP)
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
'Devastated:' A six-week abortion ban will go into effect in Iowa next week
July 23 2024 2:28 PM
Four hours, 44,000 Black women, and one Zoom call
July 23 2024 2:17 PM
Record 1.2 million people show out for Cologne’s Pride parade
July 23 2024 10:51 AM
Here's how far-right activist Leonard Leo helped fund Bud Light boycott
July 23 2024 10:27 AM
Elon Musk’s comments about his trans daughter prove why she doesn’t speak to him
July 23 2024 9:16 AM
Nancy Pelosi endorses Kamala Harris for president
July 22 2024 4:07 PM
Charli XCX declares Kamala Harris IS brat & our next President's campaign agrees
July 22 2024 3:08 PM
Pete Buttigieg roasts JD Vance and his gay tech bro billionaire
July 22 2024 1:42 PM