Alexandria Virginia News

THE NEW DOMINION/John Arundel
Managing Editor

It might be called Barack Obama's October surprise.

In a state where Republicans are increasingly stepping over party lines to support moderate and centrist Democrats, 15 well-known Republicans appeared in Market Square Tuesday to endorse Obama's presidential campaign.

Among those endorsing Obama were former GOP administration officials and the wife of Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel.

Lilibet Hagel was introduced by Susan Eisenhower, the daughter of Republican President Eisenhower. "At the end of the day, many Americans are afraid of change," Eisenhower said. "But when I wake up in the morning I'm afraid things will not change."
While Sen. Hagel has made no endorsement, Lilibet Hagel said that her decision was independent of her husband.

"As a wife, mother, teacher and Republican, I'm proud to support the Obama Biden team," Hagel said. "Whether it's decreasing wages, secret prisons overseas or those elusive weapons of mass destruction, thankfully we have a leader who can ride this course."

The Hagels and Cindy and John McCains are long-time friends, and Lillibet Hagel said her endorsement was not meant to hurt them personally. "This isn't anti-McCain. This is pro-Obama. I'm just convinced he's the right person," she said.

A moderate Republican elected in 1986 and a veteran wounded in combat in the Vietnam War, Hagel has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's Iraq engagement. Last summer, Hagel accompanied Obama and Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island to Iraq and Afghanistan, and at one point it was speculated that Hagel could become a possible running mate for Obama. Hagel is not seeking a third term.

Mrs. Hagel said that the McCain-Palin team had assembled a "top-notch slander team" which uses "any slur they feel may stick."

Megan Beyer, the organizer of the event, said that, "In the wake of McCain's brother calling Arlington and Alexandria 'Communist' we thought it appropriate to have this press conference in Alexandria," said Beyer, whose husband Don Beyer is a national finance co-chair for the Obama camp.

John McCain owns a condo in Crystal City in Arlington County, a stone's throw from Alexandria, and graduated from Episcopal High School in Alexandria in 1954.

In addition to Eisenhower and the campaign's new endorser, a group of local Republicans avowed their support of Obama, including former presidential appointees of former Republican administrations, and Republican activists previously aligned with Republican lawmakers.

"We have some great American names here today: Abshire, Hagel, Helms. These are some of the greatest names this country has ever produced," Susan Eisenhower said.

Other GOP endorsers of Obama at the event included:

* Terry Golden, the former Assistant Secretary of Treasury and Administrator of the General Services Administration under former President Ronald Reagan;

* Willa Hall Smith, the former Associate Director of Public Liaison to President George H.W. Bush;

* Ken Wilson, a former DC Republican Committeeman and a "Bush 41 Eagle Fundraiser;"

* Stephanie E. Myers, the former Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at Health and Human Services under Reagan;

* Antoinette Ford, former Presidential Appointee in the Nixon, Reagan and Bush Administrations;

* Dr. Louise White Cashin, former director, National Teacher Corps, Dept. of Education in the Nixon Administration;

* Carolyn Abshire, the wife of former NATO Ambassador under George H.W. Bush ;

* Eileen Doherty, a former Reagan White House Communications office staffer;

* Mandy Locke, a veteran of Bob Dole's Presidential Campaign and press aide to Elizabeth Dole;

* Mrs Richard Helms, the wife of Richard Helms, Richard Nixon's CIA chief;

* Sarah Mathias, the daughter in law of former Senator Charles Mathias (R);

* Beverley Stanley, the widow of Ralph Stanley, Chair of UMPTA under Reagan,

* Georgia Nassikas, the sister of former Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI).