Former IDP Chair Fischer Endorses Obama

Former Iowa Democratic Chairman Gordon Fischer today endorsed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for the presidency.

In an interview with Iowa Independent, Fischer said the decision is one he agonized over, but that in the end it came down to one word: electibility.

"To me the most electable is Obama," Fischer said of the Illinois Democrat. "He is the person to me that seems to reach across party lines."

Fischer noted that Obama finished third in a recent University of Iowa poll among Republicans.

"Independents and Republicans are very intrigued by Senator Obama," Fischer said.

A Des Moines employment lawyer who chaired the IDP from 2002 to 2004, Fischer said he senses that many Americans are seeking a generational change in the presidency.

While Obama, 46, is technically a Baby Boomer, his world view is often more in line with younger generations.

"I think there's a lot to that," Fischer said. "I would frankly compare it to John F. Kennedy and the torch being passed."

Added Fischer, "I've never seen young people react to a candidate the way they react to Obama. He really, really connects with young people."

Fischer said Obama has a remarkable ability to transcend race, that's he's something of a political Oprah Winfrey or Tiger Woods in that regard, people larger than the question of race.

"He seems to be above and beyond race," Fischer said.

As has been well-chronicled, Obama is the son of a white Kansas mother and Kenyan father.

When asked about the question of experience, one that Obama has being dealing with more directly in campaign appearances and on the airwaves, Fischer echoed the Obama camp's pitch.

"Nobody in the world had more experience for their jobs than Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld," Fischer said. "It's not experience. It's judgment that counts."

You can read more of Fischer's thoughts on the endorsement on his blog, Iowa True Blue.

This story is crossposted at Iowa Independent, where it orginally appeared.