Powell Latest to Endorse the Obama Aesthetic
Progressives are excited by Colin Powell’s endorsement of Sen. Obama for President.
It will be interesting to see how some will square it with their anger at the then-Secretary of State for purportedly helping the Bush Administration lie us into war, etc. (Though some liberals haven’t forgotten). Hey, maybe they were right after all and Powell’s judgment really isn’t that great.
For their part, the NY Times thinks Powell is engaged in a bit of legacy building. To that end, stay tuned for stories about how Powell was bamboozled, railroaded, lied to, etc. in the prelude to the Iraq War.
Most of Powell’s endorsement was devoted to explaining why he didn’t like the GOP ticket. Fair enough. But all in all, the reasons given by Powell for supporting Obama are more of the same we’ve seen from other Republicans or conservatives who have decided to go the Obama route. “Transformational figure,” “reaching out,” “inclusive nature”, etc. Aesthetics and emotion with few facts but a lot of “hopes.” Not much scrutiny of Obama’s actual record. But I guess as long as we all feel better on November 5.
Welcome to Stuart Smalley‘s America–where Stuart himself may end up in the Senate.
Hey Marc –
I don’t think that I conveyed any “excitement” in my post about Powell. I did convey that it’s a powerful endorsement for Obama – which I think you would be hard-pressed to dispute.
In listening to Powell over the last year, I do think, however, that he deeply regrets carrying the water for the Bush administration regarding Iraq.
And progressives have an immense amount of respect for people who realize that they are on the wrong side and c’mon over to our team.
Who knows? Maybe you’re next! We’ll save a seat!
-Matt
Matt-if everyone came over to your side who would you argue with and militate against?It would be like playing shuffleboard at the Villages all day.
Matt, OK, fair enough I suppose. But there are some that are certainly excited, including Obama himself–can’t blame him, Powell is respected by many across the ideological spectrum.
And congrats on passing the bar.
I am neither surprised, nor do I believe Powell’s on board with the whole Obama agenda.
Powell was a voice of moderation in the GOP which was shoved out the door in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion. He just wanted to return the shiv.
I tend to agree with rhody when he states that Powell isn’t aboard with the whole Obama agenda.
There is no question that Obama is far more liberal than Powell and I do think that Powell felt pushed to the side by the Cheney/Rumsfeld part of the Bush administration.
But I think Powell’s endorsement has more to do with Obama being the first credible African-American president. I don’t agree with it, but how many Irish-Catholics do you know that voted for JFK just because he was Irish-Catholic.