Leach will speak at Democratic convention

By Ed Tibbetts | Monday, August 25, 2008

DENVER — Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, will speak to the Democratic National Convention today, Barack Obama’s campaign said Sunday.

Leach, a Davenport native who was a congressman for

30 years, endorsed Obama a couple weeks ago but did not say at the time whether he would speak at the party’s convention.

“He’ll be speaking about Sen. Obama’s record of bringing Republicans, independents and Democrats together,” said Jenni Lee, a spokesperson for Obama.

While endorsing him Aug. 12, Leach, a leading moderate in Congress, said Obama has the ability to bridge partisan gaps.

The Illinois senator has based a large part of his campaign on the idea he can bring change to Washington, D.C., and bring warring factions together.

Leach, the director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday. However, when he endorsed Obama he also said he would bring a more internationalist approach to foreign policy, another key area of interest for the former congressman.

“Above anything else, I’m convinced the national interest requires a new approach to our interactions with the world,” Leach said then.

Leach is one of a small handful of moderates in both parties who are taking on increasingly visible roles in the campaigns and conventions of the opposite party.

U.s. Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats in Congress, will speak at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., next week.

The Obama campaign didn’t say Sunday at what time today Leach would be scheduled to speak.

Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at

(563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.

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