Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced yesterday he will be voting for Barack Obama.
I have a lot of respect for Powell. He is a retired general and a Republican; and was once thought of as a Presidential candidate himself. But don’t expect to see Powell on the campaign trail. It has never been his style.
I do expect McCain to discount the endorsement – but that won’t fly for most Americans, as Powell’s reputation and credibility are enviable. Any shooting at Powell’s decision will only make McCain look more desperate and not credible.
What does this mean?
For the most part, it is significant blow to the McCain camp saying “Obama is not qualified to be Commander and Chief.” Powell said, “He [Obama] has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president.”
Is also sends a significant message to the Republican Party as Powell is a republican, endorsed Bush, and served as Secretary of State.
Powell noted that either candidate would be qualified to be president and the next president will need to restore America’s standing and reputation in the world.
Fine, I suppose this is where you look for some witty insights to my mind. A "bio" of sorts. Here is the deal... I ride motorcycles, smoke cigars, golf, kayak, fly, race my car through the mountains, write (a lot), and travel extensively. I am almost old enough not to care what other people think about me...almost. ~Godfadr
It has been said that the Powell endorsement of Obama may be the final nail in the coffin of McCain’s candidacy, but I guess we’ll see come November 4th. I think his switching party lines with his endorsement is not so much him splitting with the party, but rather the party has left its people, save the ultra-hardcore republicans who wouldn’t change their party if Hitler himself were the republican nominee.
It says (as Powell did),
McCain is all over the place (desperate and unclear).
Palin was a poor choice.
Obama can stick to the issues and not attack character.
Negative ads aren’t making McCain’s point believable.
And maybe,
Powell is tired of being called a Tom. (If so, good for him! He knows who he is.)
Suddenly because Powell is endorsing obama he is not as evil as he used to be? Yet, Powell was the one encouraging the Iraq war claiming they had WMD. Anyone with intelligence knows that Powell is endorsing based on race.
98% of black people are voting for obama just because he is black. White people are split between obama, nadar, and McCain. Think about it.
The truth is this is a race campaign. The Democrats control the senate and congress and have the lowest approval rating in US history. The Democrats couldn’t even beat Bush in the elections thus why they are going after the black vote in the US, about 45 million blacks. Thus, why obama voted present over 130 times, avoided the tough issues, and never challenged his party leaders on senate to preserve his political career. Only 143 days on state senate when he decided to run for office.
The Democrats lost because the US is not a socialist/communist system. Americans fought against Nazi Germany, their socialist party, and communist USSR for decades, just to name a few.
Again, Clinton supported deregulation and introduced FTAs like NAFTA. That is why the US economy was strong during his administration. McCain also supports deregulation and fights for FTAs like NAFTA. These initiatives will help our economy. Our economy is very important, McCain is better for our economy. I hope people get educated before they vote.
US businesses create US jobs. obama wants to limit the growth of US businesses, which is limiting the growth of US jobs. If you increase tax on US businesses they will either just relocate to a lower tax country taking American jobs with them, pass the added tax cost to consumers or go bankrupt. GM and Ford can barely compete globally and obama wants to tax them more. The smaller businesses that are reliant on GM and Ford will also be greatly affected, destroying more US jobs.
The US is the land of opportunity not the land of equal outcome. Why should government take your money and give it to people who are already on welfare to spread the wealth?
What Caused Our Economic Crisis? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RZVw3no2A4
I have always respected Colin Powell. I would never demean his charactor, and it does say something to me that he is endorsing Obama. However, it doesn’t say to me that the republican party is pandering to the ultra conservatives. It is just the opposite. We have been forced by the republican party to choose between a liberal republican or an uber-liberal democrat.
The only conservative in the major party tickets is Sarah Palin. While she is a conservative, she is a risk and an unknown.
Perhaps if the Republican party had nominated an actual conservative Colin Powell would have had a more difficult time choosing race over policy.
Sarah, don’t drink the Kool Aid!
For starters, I am not sure where you get your figures. 98% of blacks are not voting for Obama. To suggest the Powell is voting for Obama only because of race is very narrow minded (unless of course you know nothing about Powell and YOU are basing your decision on color).
Secondly, this is not a Democratic problem. It is not a Republican problem. It is a problem across all parties. It happened on Bush’s shift..period.
Who said Obama was looking to give money to people on welfare? You really need to read a bit more.
I can’t say I will vote for Obama at this point but I certainly disagree with Sarah that Powell picked only based on race. There is not a person in Washington who does not believe in his credibility or honor.
Those who know Powell are not surprised by this. Though a significant blow to the McCain campaign, it has been whispered about since the birth of the Obama presidential campaign.
For the record Powell originally served under Carter. Then Reagan, H. Bush, Clinton (shortly) and finally W.
While he leans conservative. He is certainly no dyed in the wool republican.
Good read, thanks for the information, it was really informative.
Try to remember that Colin Powel RESIGNED from the Bush administration when he realized that he had been deceived about the WMD. That is called INTEGRITY.
General Colin Powell is a Moderate Republican. (Most of them have been driven into hiding due to the radical religious right brought into the party by Pat Robertson and Oral Roberts.) I don’t buy that Gen. Colin Powell
made his decision based on race. By the way, does anyone recall that Obama is bi-racial, 50% Caucasian and 50% other.
I agree with all of Colin Powell’s reasons for his decision. They are the same as my own. I am a WASP, (white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant) and I believe Obama has shown the temprament to be steady at the wheel of the Ship of State, while McCain seems to be impetuous and erratic, regardless of his other virtues. It would be very sad indeed if this election turns out to be decided by racial fears.
Sarah your percentages are off or at least misguided. Some statistics show blacks voting for Democrats over 80% of the time – nothing to do with color.
Academic proof of media bias http://journalism.org/node/13307
There is no question “Truth,” the media is biased. Some endorse Obama, some endorse McCain – both cover their campaigns accordingly.
I don’t like it as the days of “just the facts” through news are getting harder to find (guess that is what blogging is for).