Colin Powell Endorses Obama: No Big Surprise

While it might look good in the news cycle, and might be a nice cosmetic addition to Senator Obama’s growing list of endorsements, Colin Powell’s nod to Barack Obama really did not come as a big surprise to me. It might not come as a big surprise to the White House, either. George Bush is so engrossed in coming up with a solution to the economic process so he doesn’t look like a complete and total failure, anyone could probably wander into the Oval Office and give him a wedgie right about now. (Note: this is not my invitation to try. If subpoenaed, I will not testify.)

After all, Colin Powell is not really a Republican. He’s a Democrat trapped in a Republican’s body. Every time I’ve seen him on the news, he looks like a guy who reluctantly made a promise and is doing his damnedest to keep it, even though he’d rather be in Maui boogie-boarding with his wife and kids. He was one of the few in Bush’s cabinet to say that the emperor has no clothes. So now Powell is officially out of the closet. Yawn.

What does surprise me is the growing list of people who claim to be John McCain’s friends who are flipping and endorsing his opponent. Powell’s explanation? He doesn’t like McCain’s growing negativity and focus on issues like William Ayers that he, and a lot of other people, think are mere distractions during this time of economic crisis. And, he likes Obama’s potential better. On NBC’s Meet the Press this morning, Powell said that he had “come to the conclusion that because of [Barack Obama’s] ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities — and you have to take that into account — as well as his substance — he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."

McCain’s rejoinder? While he has a lot of respect for Colin Powell, he wanted to remind everyone that five – count them, five – former Secretaries of State have endorsed him. Now, if I were McCain, I wouldn’t go bragging on these dudes. I’m willing to bet that none of you out there under 45 remember who these guys are. So for those of you, I will give you a refresher course on two of the Secretaries of State who have endorsed McCain: Al “I’m in Charge Here” Haig, who panicked after Ronald Reagan was shot and claimed that he was in control of the White House, even though, with the vice president unreachable at that time, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger had that responsibility.Is just furthered his reputation as someone who was erratic and power-hungry.  Also endorsing McCain is Henry Kissinger, who connived with Richard Nixon to carpet bomb countries that weren’t even involved in the Vietnam War, among other things. Some believe him to be a war criminal. And, more frightening, McCain says that Kissinger is one of his closest advisers.

What also concerns me is if someone from the McCain loyalist army chalks this up as a race issue. That since Colin Powell is a person of color, this is why he is endorsing Obama. I’m pretty sure that someone at some rally is going to shout it out. Or, barring that, there may be some whispers across the Internet from Republican operatives.

And if this happens, I’ll be interested to hear how McCain defends himself.

(Update, Sunday evening: the race thing is happening already. Both Rush Limbaugh and George Will are picking away at it. I would've expected this from Limbaugh, but even though I do not agree with George Will, oh, say, 98% of the time, I still have some respect for his intelligence. That respect is now waning. I hoped that we as a country were beyond this sort of crap, but I guess I am too idealistic.)