Meet the Press - Colin Powell endorses Obama (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27265369/)

Holy Henna!

Powell was on Meet the Press this morning, and he endorsed Barrack Obama. Republicans must be looking towards election 2012. I knew McCain wasn't moving the Republican base; however, I wasn't expecting anyone to endorse Obama.

WASHINGTON - Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for president on Sunday, criticizing his own Republican Party for what he called its narrow focus on irrelevant personal attacks over a serious approach to challenges he called unprecedented.

“I don’t believe [Palin] is ready to be president of the United States,” Powell said flatly. By contrast, Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, “is ready to be president on day one.”

Powell also said he was “troubled” by Republican personal attacks on Obama, especially false intimations that Obama was Muslim and Republicans’ recent focus on Obama’s alleged connections to William Ayers, the founder of the radical ’60 Weather Underground.

Stressing that Obama was a lifelong Christian, Powell denounced Republican tactics that he said were insulting not only to to Obama but also to Muslims.

“The really right answer is what if he is?” Powell said, praising the contributions of millions of Muslim citizens to American society.

“I look to these kind of approaches to the campaign, and they trouble me,” Powell said.
“O ver the last seven weeks, the approach of the Republican Party has become narrower and narrower.” Obama may win due to the overall disatisfaction with everything.

Yet another hit to the McCain campaign. This endorsement should do wonders for Obama (not that he needs it) and put a dent in McCain's efforts to discredit Obama. This will be very interesting to watch. Nice find, Yar.

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say word

Not too unexpected but still very neat.

I also have to agree with Jaymack, Obama is pretty ballin'.

Pretty busy day today, so I just now got around to listening to the endorsement itself. I think the rationale behind Powell's decision was delivered with a good mix of sensitivity and candor. I'm not sure how much of an impact his endorsement will have in the final weeks of the election, but it's one of the few I've heard that doesn't sound as though it was written by campaign staff.

I agree with you on that. I thought it was well-considered and respectful to McCain on top of it. A lot of politicians will preface something like this by saying "this was a difficult decision for me", but I don't think it was easy for Powell just the same.

Too bad Bush didn't listen to Powell more when Powell was his Sec'y of State--we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today if he had.

Too bad Bush didn't listen to Powell more when Powell was his Sec'y of State--we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today if he had.
Quote for Truth!!! Thankfully, the first Bush did listen to Powell.

The endorsement does not affect my vote, beyond reinforcing my belief that I made the right decision. That is where I think this endorsement will help. It will help reinforce some people’s decision when they get in the voting booth and start having second thoughts.

Powell would make a heck of a Sec'y of Defense for him, don't you think? It would also blunt the criticism about Obama's foreign inexperience, more so than Biden as VP.

Yes, Powell would make a great SecDef. I was rather surprised when Bush made him Secretary of State instead, as defense is more in his area of expertise, and Rumsfeld, well, SUCKED. :p