Republicans for Obama?

This week has seen the launch of Republicans for Obama, an initiative undertaken by former Republican politicians and senior advisers. Reaffirming the Obama campaign's appeal to bipartisanship and "unity", the group's website insists that

We need a leader who can lay the foundations of another American Century—someone who can get past our partisan and ideological divisions, as we strengthen our standing in the world and tackle the challenges we face at home. We need a leader who understands our differences, but who also knows the importance of finding common ground. While we continue to debate and address many issues on which we all have strong opinions—abortion, gay rights, the relationship between church and state, to name a few—we need a leader who can command the support needed to break our government’s paralysis and meet the growing challenges we face as a nation.

One of the feathers in Obama's cap is the sense of his novelty and strength as a politician whose appeal transcends traditional political boundaries. The publicity surrounding Republicans for Obama reinforces this impression. A sceptic's take is in the FT by Christopher Caldwell (senior editor at the neoconservative Weekly Standard).