Colin Powell has officially endorsed Obama for president. Here’s why his endorsement matters:
If you watch the entire video of Powell’s endorsement, you’ll see that his decision was not made lightly. He has known John McCain for many years, and has a great respect for him. Both Powell and McCain have military experience, although McCain left the military to serve the US in congress, while Powell went on to become a General in the US Army, National Security Advisor (1987–1989), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993), and the nation’s first African-American Secretary of State (2001–2005). He may be the Republican that both Republican and Democratic Americans respect the most, although it may take a bit longer for some folks to completely forgive him for his UN speech on Iraq’s ‘weapons of mass destruction’, a speech that Powell himself calls a “blot” on his record.
(Update, 10/20/08 - Another general comes out for Obama. “Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office—I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency.”)
While listening to Powell’s endorsement interview, notice that he shows a deep concern for the actions and character of the two candidates, and specifically calls McCain out for his negative campaign tactics and the poor judgment he displayed in his selection of an unqualified candidate for Vice President. Although Powell doesn’t specifically use the words “Commander in Chief” in the interview, he clearly believes Obama has the intelligence and character to lead the United States in a time of crisis. McCain, on the other hand, has shown himself willing to divide the country along class and cultural lines, a ‘leadership’ style that cannot be condoned by someone who truly puts America first, as Powell has always done.
History has shown us that people are easiest to control when they’re scared. McCain and the Republican party are doing a fairly good job of transforming our current fear over our financial future into fear of the ’socialist’ and ‘anti-American’ policies of his opponent. I haven’t seen this kind of fear-mongering in American politics since the Goldwater candidacy. Honorable Republican leaders disowned Goldwater then, just as many are doing now, but the class warfare that Goldwater ignited did not go away when that election was over. There are some genies that you just can’t put back in the bottle.
If Obama overcomes the Republican smear campaign and wins this election, many Americans will undoubtedly hold on to the belief, deliberately fomented by the McCain campaign, that Obama represents an insidious anti-American cadre of radicals. If McCain loses the election, there is no doubt that he will try to do the honorable thing and tell the American people that “he didn’t really mean it” when he insinuated that Obama was a baby-killing terrorist - but at that point his followers are unlikely to believe him. That’s why other highly-regarded Republicans, like Colin Powell, will be needed so much in the months following the election.
Colin Powell believes that Barack Obama is the best man to lead America in this troubling time. And one thing Powell understands best is the kind of character it takes to be a true leader.