Why the Powell Endorsement (Could) Matter

[tw]

From the Washington Post of 17 Oct 2008:

Why the Powell Endorsement (Could) Matter
The news that retired Gen. Colin Powell will appear this Sunday on "Meet the Press" has set off a frenzy of speculation that former secretary of State could throw his endorsement to Barack Obama.

Powell has made little secret of his admiration for the Illinois senator in the past but has always stopped short of outright endorsing him.

Will that change on Sunday? And, if it does, how much is Powell's endorsement really worth?

Seen through the prism of our handy-dandy endorsement hierarchy, Powell's endorsement of Obama would qualify as the highest powered of all endorsements: a symbolic one.

[richlevy]

Well, he did come out for Obama. I explained here in the "Military Polls" thread what my impressions were.

In short, Powell, besides being a black general, is a moderate Republican intellectual icon. His defection mirrors the defection or abstention of a large number of conservative intellectuals who think a liberal intellectual would be better than a conservative wedded to the current Republican base.

It was a great interview. I recommend everyone catch the repeats of "Meet the Press". Or just watch it here.

BTW, McCain will take the high road on this, but watch for what happens with the 'red meat' Republicans. The smart ones will refrain from trying to tear down Powell, but as I mentioned earlier, there are less and less smart ones left.

[Undertoad]

He's very convincing, in fact Powell convinced me there were WMD in Iraq with his speech to the UN.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

He's very convincing, in fact Powell convinced me there were WMD in Iraq with his speech to the UN.

Facts he was not sure were even acurate. And after it came out that they were not he was truely pissed off. Of all the previous Bush appointments I have the highest respect for him and Paul O'Neil, I can't remember her name, Dee Myers??? the first press sec?

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Of all the previous Bush appointments I have the highest respect for him and Paul O'Neil, I can't remember her name, Dee Myers??? the first press sec?

Well, it's going to be a bloodbath tomorrow when the surrogates attack his credibility, service, etc. The politicians will be bad enough, but I can just imagine Hannity and ilk.

I can already hear Coulter screaming "Treason".

[DanaC]

Powell was one of the few Whitehouse figures that I had/have respect for out of the last eight years. He was one of the ones that made me think (until I heard Blix interviewed) Saddam might have weapons of mass destruction. he must have been so fucking annoyed when he realised he'd been given shitty intelligence.

Of all of them, he was one of the few I genuinely believe and believed had no knowledge of the dishonesty of those reports.

[tw]

Originally Posted by DanaC

He was one of the ones that made me think Saddam might have weapons of mass destruction. he must have been so fucking annoyed when he realised he'd been given shitty intelligence.

More likely he knew he was lying.

Colin Powell had a dinner meeting with George Jr, Laura, and Condi Rice. He knew the president was going to war no matter what. Therefore he told the president that as Sec of State, he was required to make the president's case before the UN. IOW Powel had commited to making the case for war regardless of facts.

When he went to the CIA, he spent 14 hour days all week looking for those facts. If those facts were 'slam dunk', then everything could have been obtained in a day. But proof after proof presented to Powell was found lacking or obviously a lie.

When Powel gave that UN speech, I felt so sorry for him. Presented facts had already been found wanting by responsible sources. If those were the best he could do, then clearly, justification for war did not exist.

I specifically remember thinking this poor man has been blindsided by the administration. As a good soldier, he was following orders. Of course, the world did not buy his speech either. Even Canada and Mexico did not believe him.

I always had respect for Powel. It was obvious that he did not have facts in his UN speech.

BTW, posted by tw on 30 Dec 2001:

The one thing I fear most, is not likely, BUT we should not be surprised if it happens - we will attack Iraq. Should it happen, it will be bad for the US, ...

In Nov 2002, when Iraq had not yet been invaded, this post was rejected by an apparent majority. Predictions based in known facts were, unfortunately, too accurate:

Dan Rather Commentary
This attack on Iraq is chock full of surprises, unknowns, and dangers. It is what Colin Powel so strongly worried about in the 1990 Gulf War and probably still worries today in Iraq as he quitely opposes war. No clear 'end game' strategy means disaster. Exactly the problem in Somalia. Exactly Johnson's problem in VietNam. Exactly the problem in occupying Iraq.

That post was not a lucky guess. It was based in facts.

The fear was "no light at the end of the tunnel". $10billion a month and still no solution. Meanwhile the justified war will probably continue for upwards of 10 years because we invaded Iraq, did not phase four planning in Afghanistan (either), and all but protected bin Laden.

[tw]

Originally Posted by richlevy

It was a great interview. I recommend everyone catch the repeats of "Meet the Press". Or just watch it here.

Powell said both McCain and Obama are competent. Powel is quite clear where his criticisms are directly. Not with McCain, other than McCain lets the problem exist. Some quotes from Powell's "Meet the Press" interview:

I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years. It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it, but that's a choice the party makes. ...

This Bill Ayers situation that's been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign. But Mr. McCain says that he's a washed-out terrorist. Well, then, why do we keep talking about him? ...

And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift. I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration. I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America. ...

She’s [Palin] a very distinguished woman, and she’s to be admired, but at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don’t believe she’s ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president.

The last statement is a publically correct way of calling her incompetent for the job and an example of a party moving even more extremist right.

Powel criticizes the Republican Party leadership - McCain's biggest problem.

NY Times provided an example of McCain's problem - the extremists that must be part of his campaign.

The McCain campaign’s top foreign-policy aide is Randy Scheunemann, who was a foreign-policy adviser to former Senators Trent Lott and Bob Dole and who has longtime ties to neoconservatives. In 2002, Mr. Scheunemann was a founder of the hawkish Committee for the Liberation of Iraq and was an enthusiastic supporter of Ahmad Chalabi,

As we all know, Chalabi was a con artist who rose to power by supporting or even creating George Jr administration lies about Saddam and WMDs. He was lying so often that only those with a political agenda (rather than working for America) could have believed Chalabi. And yet Scheunemann, an example of that extremist political agenda, joins Karl Rove's people and Carly Fiorina to lead the McCain campaign.

Powell also praises Obama for his abilities to learn, inspire, comprehend, and lead. Powell uses the word "transformational".

McCain's largest problem is attributed to his right wing extremist party.

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by tw

More likely he knew he was lying.

Then he is definitely not a trustworthy person to listen to for an endorsement.

[Big Sarge]

McCain says he has the endorsement of over 200 former generals and admirals. Does anyone know where I can find a list of these supporters

[bluecuracao]

On his website.

[classicman]

Lil more help there blue - I couldn't find them on his site either.

One interesting note though.

Comparing their myspace pages - McCain has less than 200,000 "friends" While Obama has about 750,000. Also looking at his page further confirms that he seems completely out of touch with anyone under 55. Obama has an infinitely more user friendly, visually appealing page.

[LabRat]

Originally Posted by classicman

Comparing their myspace pages - McCain has less than 200,000 "friends" While Obama has about 750,000.

As someone who works on a Big Ten College campus, and sees the support that Democrats get here, and knows the likelyhood that a 20 something vs. a 30 or 40 something person would have or visit a myspace page, this does not surprise me.

Originally Posted by classicman

Also looking at his page further confirms that he seems completely out of touch with anyone under 55.

This worries me too. I want to vote for him, but he is making it very hard.

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by classicman

Lil more help there blue - I couldn't find them on his site either.

Um, no? muahahaha

Seriously though, that's a bad thing for him. They should fix that.

I found it by googling "McCain list of military endorsers," found a fun little site called stoptheaclu.com, then clicked on their link leading to the press release on his campaign site.

[classicman]

Here ya go Sarge

McCain list of military endorsers