Republicans are supporting Democratic colleagues’ Senate candidacies, while others, like Barry Goldwater, Jr., are embracing subsidies for clean energy—all small steps across old battle lines.
The U.S. Senate is a clubby place, so it shouldn’t be all that surprising when some members break ranks to support the other side based on personal relationships they’ve forged over the years. Republicans John Warner and Richard Lugar, two of the senate’s most admired alums, back the candidacy of Michelle Nunn, the daughter of Sam Nunn, a Democratic former colleague with whom they worked closely. She’s running for her father’s old seat in Georgia, where an upset victory in a red state could salvage the Democrats’ majority in a tough year.
A colleague’s daughter is one thing, but Warner announced last week that he is backing his fellow Virginian and former colleague, Democrat Mark Warner (no blood relationship) in his race against former Republican Party Chairman Ed Gillespie. “There are times you must, I think, recognize that certain individuals are superior in their talents and in what they have done and can potentially do for your state,” Warner told the Associated Press. It wasn’t the first time Warner crossed the aisle to buck his party. As a proud member of what he calls “the old school,” there was a time and place for such displays of independence. They made the difference between politicians and statesmen.
