“Veterans were very offended” by Romney
supporting Obama: “Veterans were very offended” by Romney
Larry Pressler, who served 22 years in Congress as a Republican, speaks with Salon about why he's endorsing Obama
By Alex Seitz-Wald
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Topics: Barack Obama, Election 2012, Mitt Romney, Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, Tea Party, U.S. Veterans, Politics News
Larry Pressler in 1995 (Credit: AP/Joe Marquette)
Larry Pressler served as Republican senator from South Dakota for 18 years, and another four in the House, but today endorsed President Obama’s reelection. Pressler, who was the first Vietnam vet elected to the Senate, has dedicated much of his time since leaving Congress in 1997 to helping disabled and homeless veterans, and says he thinks they would be worse off under a Romney administration. A moderate, Pressler voted for Obama in 2008 — the first time he voted Democratic — saying he was deeply concerned with the rightward shift of the Republican Party. He wrote an Op-Ed in the Huffington Post today explaining why he thinks Romney, who gave a major foreign policy speech today, would be an unfit commander-in-chief.
Pressler is perhaps best known for being the only member of Congress to flatly reject entreaties by FBI agents posing as Arab sheiks offering bribes. The Abscam scandal resulted in the conviction of a U.S. senator and five House members, but Pressler told the faux sheiks to take a hike, which earned him glowing praise. “What have we come to if turning down a bribe is ‘heroic’?” he said at the time.
Reached in Paris, where he is teaching a university course, he told Salon he still considers himself a Republican, but said Ronald Reagan couldn’t win a GOP primary today. The following conversation has been lightly edited for brevity.
How do you see the difference between Romney and Obama on foreign policy? From Romney’s speech, it sounds to me like he supports largely the same policy, but would carry it out with a different style.
For the most part, there was not much of a division as I can see it, except that Romney is absolutely committed to the neocon value of expanding our military budget and overseas power, and Obama did say in the debate that he would be for some reductions in military power.
In your Op-Ed, you note that Romney hasn’t mentioned veterans in several speeches on foreign policy he’s given. He didn’t today either.
Continue Reading supporting Obama: “Veterans were very offended” by Romney
Larry Pressler, who served 22 years in Congress as a Republican, speaks with Salon about why he's endorsing Obama
By Alex Seitz-Wald
1K
378
more
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/08/ex_gop_senator_larry_pressler_veterans_very_offended_by_romney/
