Ann Wann and Robert Stross conduct story time for son James with "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama, their choice for president.
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."
Good thing they didn't call him articulate --- that would have been racist.
Yes, time will tell, and soon. Call me crazy, but I suspect a spiritual darkness befalling the land. As they say, we get the government we deserve, and there seems a willingness to continue the drift to the left. I am pessimistic. We can hope that Pelosi & Co. will seriously screw things up the next two years and that people will wake up.
This disclosure of the NIE to all members of the House, well, we might as well broadcast it on CNN. These clowns can't keep their mouths shut, they are unaccountable, and they are going to get a lot of good foreign agents killed.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I agree with the premise of your critique; but JFK merely gave a brilliant keynote address at the 1956 convention and was named as a favorite son candidate of his state, as was customary in those days (states did that in order to hold their delegates in reserve for purposes of "kingmaking"). Estes Kefauver ran for VP that year. Again, this is not to nitpick or to disagree with the rest of what you said (or the sentiment behind it). Just FYI.
Please don't go on a hunger strike waiting that would be very bad for your health.
Oh man, that last line is the worst, lol, gonna get him banned all over the USA!
Snicker..
And also very important, will the trains run on time?
and the seminar posters here...
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Yeah, riiiiiight! These two are "conservative Republicans" like I'm a Hillary democrat.
I'd like to ask them to examine O's voting record and see if they still support him, but since they are figments of this author's imagination, I'll pass.
Hillary is already sitting on a warchest of over 400 million dollars. The only "toasting" going on will be Hellary after she runs away with the nomination.
Ann Wann and Robert Stross conduct story time for son James with "The Audacity of Hope" by Barack Obama, their choice for president.
The Democratic Underground hates Hillary more than they hate FreeRepublic. They gush over Obama, however.
Yes, but they have to do better than this.
Like Howard Dean, Obama = George Soros.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.