A former Republican senator from Rhode Island and a former Republican congressman from Iowa are leading Senator Obama’s effort to recruit so-called Obamacans to his campaign. Lincoln Chafee, who served just over one term in the Senate for Rhode Island, and James Leach, a 30-year House veteran in Iowa who retired in 2006, held a conference call yesterday to champion the Illinois Democrat and criticize Senator McCain as a continuation of “failed” Bush administration policies. They were joined by Rita Hauser, a prominent Republican lawyer who served as an intelligence adviser during President Bush’s first term. Messrs. Chafee and Leach were known as moderate to liberal Republicans in Congress, and Mr. Chafee quit the party after he was defeated in a re-election bid in 2006. He endorsed Mr. Obama earlier this year. Ms. Hauser supported then-Governor Bush in 2000 but cited opposition to the Iraq war in endorsing Senator Kerry four years later. All three cited foreign policy as the chief reason for abandoning the Republican nominee. “I think there is going to be a split in the Republican base on foreign policy because the Bush-Cheney approach has been such a failure all over the world,” Mr. Chafee said. The campaign plans to launch a Republicans for Obama Web site in the coming days.

POLL SHOWS OBAMA LEAD AMONG CHRISTIANS

The Obama campaign is all smiles over the results of a new poll showing the Democrat with a nine-point lead over Senator McCain among Christian voters. The survey, conducted by the Barna Group, a Christian research and polling firm, showed Mr. Obama ahead among likely Christian voters, 43% to 34%. The Illinois senator leads in 17 of 18 denominational subsets, with Mr. McCain ahead only among evangelicals. While the gap is closer than it was earlier in the year, the results are welcome news for the Obama campaign, which has struggled to fend off whisper campaigns that the senator is not a Christian.

370 PARTIES SCHEDULED DURING CONVENTIONS

The nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation reports that at least 370 parties are scheduled during the presidential nominating conventions — shindigs sponsored by such high-profile companies as Bank of America, Eli Lilly, AT&T, and Anheuser-Busch. The watchdog group said the Democratic conclave in Denver will feature a late-night party at the Loft sponsored by USTelecom, among others, and a luncheon organized by financial services companies. The Republicans in Minneapolis-St. Paul will sport a reception co-sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters and hospitality suites courtesy of Honeywell and Citigroup, among others.

PELOSI TO SPEAK ON DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION’S OPENING NIGHT

Michelle Obama and the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, will be the featured first-night speakers at the Democratic National Convention, which also will include a videotaped message from Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts. Mrs. Obama will be introduced by her brother, Craig Robinson, a former basketball star at Princeton University and now coach at Oregon State, on the first night on August 25. Senator Obama’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, also will have a role at the convention. Other opening night speakers include Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver and Senator McCaskill of Missouri, an early Obama supporter, organizers said yesterday.

McCAIN CAMPAIGNS IN NEW JERSEY

Senator McCain flew in to Newark yesterday evening and headed to the Glenpointe Marriott hotel in Teaneck, where he spoke to about 400 people who paid between $1,000 and $25,000 for refreshments including hors d’oeuvres, a salad bar, and assorted pastries. Mr. McCain devoted much of his 15-minute talk to the conflict in Georgia, denouncing Russia’s invasion of its neighbor. Larry Bathgate, an attorney and one of the candidate’s finance chairmen, said the day’s events were expected to bring in about $1.5 million. “Senator and Mrs. McCain are in New Jersey so often they are close to being residents,” state Senator Bill Baroni, who chairs Mr. McCain’s New Jersey campaign, said.