Republican and Republican-leaning Indian voters ditched their party's candidate this year and backed Barack Obama for president.

Ron Allen, the chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe of Washington and the secretary of the National Congress of American Indians, at first supported Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona). But he abandoned the Senate Indian Affairs Committee after the campaign failed to address his concerns.

“I could not get him or his team to put together a platform that had a stronger commitment to correcting the wrongs and injustices that have happened to tribes over the years," Allen told Indian Country, noting that McCain's policy team was stacked with former Bush administration officials.

Roy Sampsel, a board member of the Institute for Tribal Government in Oregon, also ditched McCain and saw Republican tribal leaders in his state do the same. “They respected and knew Sen. McCain from his years in the Senate and on the Indian Affairs Committee, but the decision was that Obama could bring the changes needed in Washington," Sampsei said. "He just articulated his message better.”

Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009.

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Last minute Indian country support aided Obama (Indian Country Today 11/5)

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