Nunn's Decision to Support Obama

Jim Galloway, a political reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution recently conducted an interview with former Georgia US Senator Sam Nunn who offered some insight into his decision to support Barack Obama's presidential bid.

Excerpts from that interview are illuminating for all who may still have questions about the leadership qualities of Barack Obama:

Nunn’s top priority is the restoration of the United States’s credibility in the world. You can’t imagine, he said, how much damage the war in Iraq has done.

What must be regained, the senator said, is a non-partisan approach to foreign policy. McCain doesn’t represent change. Hillary Clinton, Nunn said, would find the task difficult — a president who polarizes at home would find it hard to create a unified foreign policy abroad.

Nunn said he’s talked with Obama. But he was also swayed by the good reports about the candidate from Republicans — including the staff of U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Lugar has served as Nunn’s partner in a 17-year program to corral the world’s “loose nukes.”

“Lugar’s staff tell me [Obama] is genuine, he’s sincere, he’s very capable and not only is he a fast learner, but he’s got real depth,” Nunn said.

“Even when he’s heading to the left, he always wants to find out what the other position is. I think that’s enormously important. We’ve been heading down an ideological split in this country — it’s been annoying for a long time. It’s gotten dangerous now.”

“Even though I would love for him to have more experience, I think he’s the most likely to listen, he’s the most likely to be non-ideological,” Nunn said. “There are very few people in politics now who let the facts have a bearing on their conclusions.”

While he served in the Senate, Sam Nunn earned a reputation as one who studies issues exhaustively before making a decision. The decision to support Barack Obama, therefore, is likely to carry considerable weight among those who follow the Senator's activities.