[richlevy]

Well, Obama just picked up Colin Powell's endorsement, which was the single biggest military vote he could have gotten. I just listened to Powell on Meet the Press, and his reasoning was the most thoughtful I have yet heard.

I really think that that is what is missing from the McCain campaign. They have their emissaries in the form of politicians and columnists, but there seem to be very few conservative intellectuals who can sit down and make a reasoned and intelligent argument for McCain.

In fact, many of the conservative intellectuals, now including Powell, have jumped ship or abstained from endorsing McCain.

For eight years, G.W. Bush has been the anti-intellectual candidate. When he surrounded himself with smart people, it seemed he picked those whose advice he could easily disavow or whom he could count on to tell him what he wanted to hear. Powell was an exception to this, which was why he had to resign.

McCain had a chance to fix this and he was unable to, having decided to court the base. He may have won a majority of the military, but he may have lost the respect of the decision makers within the military.