McCain v. Obama: Powell's endorsement
Posted: Monday, October 20, 2008 9:13 AM by Domenico Montanaro
”Colin L. Powell yesterday became the most prominent Republican to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, with the former secretary of state and retired four-star general declaring the senator from Illinois to be a ‘transformational’ figure who would ‘electrify our country . . . [and] the world,’” the Washington Post front-pages. “The announcement is a blow to McCain, a fellow Vietnam War veteran whose 2000 presidential campaign Powell supported before George W. Bush won the Republican nomination. McCain had publicly pledged during that campaign to name Powell as his secretary of state.”
The New York Times notes that Powell’s endorsement, as well as the news that Obama raised a whopping $150 million last month, “dealt another dispiriting setback to Republicans, particularly since Mr. Powell is a longtime friend of Mr. McCain’s and even donated to his campaign. ‘Powell is a glass of warm milk and a cookie for those who can’t sleep worrying about the lack of experience of a President Obama,’ said Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist.”
The New York Times also looks at how Powell's endorsement of Obama could be a way of re-shaping his own legacy. "It was not only an embrace of a presidential candidate from the other party, but also an effort to reshape a legacy that he himself considers tainted by his service under President Bush." More: "In saying he would vote for Mr. Obama over Mr. McCain, Mr. Powell aligned himself squarely against Mr. Bush, who has been counting on a Republican victory next month to see through his strategy of avoiding a rigid timetable for withdrawals in Iraq -- the issue, more than any other, on which the president’s legacy will rest.”
One of the consequences of Powell’s endorsement was to launch the first shot in the battle for the soul of the Republican Party. The Wall Street Journal gets into this a bit. "The endorsement comes after a series of events that have pointed to the fraying of a Republican umbrella that has relied in the past on both moderates and conservatives to bulk up its governing majority. Late last week, conservative radio talk-show host Michael Smerconish endorsed Sen. Obama, as did conservative columnist Christopher Buckley, the son of National Review founder William F. Buckley. The Chicago Tribune endorsed Sen. Obama last week, the first time the paper has endorsed a Democrat in its 161-year history.”
The New York Daily News' cover has the Powell headline: "Pow! Bam!" "Colin Powell backs Obama, slams own GOP. Barack raises $150M in a month."
"Despite all his warm words for John McCain, for the most part an ideological soul mate whose military valor he particularly esteems, Powell delivered a powerful critique of what he believes is a small, mean, divisive campaign McCain and his partisans have waged," the Daily News writes. "'It was one of those 'Voice of God' moments,' a Republican political operative said, speculating that Powell might embolden other GOP moderates to come forward and back Obama." The News' DeFrank called it "devastating," since Powell is "a figure of towering moral authority widely admired by many Americans."
Powell also took issue yesterday with McCain's efforts to draw a parallel between Obama's economic policies and those of Socialist leaders in Europe, NBC's Ashley Codianni reports. Speaking to reporters outside NBC's studios after his Meet the Press appearance, Powell defended Obama's tax agenda and called Republican efforts to tie the Democratic nominee to leftist economics "unfortunate."
"Mr. Obama is now a socialist," Powell remarked ironically, "because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have." Asked yesterday on FOX whether Obama can be characterized as a socialist, McCain quoted Obama's promise to "spread the wealth around," calling that phrase "one of the tenets of socialism."
Powell, though, disagreed. "Taxes are always a redistribution of money," he said yesterday. "Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay it, in roads, and airports, and hospitals and schools. Taxes are necessary for the common good."
NBC’s Chris Donovan also makes this point about the Powell endorsement: Powell lives in Virginia. So if he indeed votes in Virginia, yesterday’s endorsement is important not only because he’s Colin Powell, but because he is a voter in a key battleground state.
The latest round of newspaper endorsements: Obama: Palm Beach Post, Orlando Sentinel, Raleigh News & Observer, Houston Chronicle, Asbury Park Press, Detroit Free Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald Dispatch (WV), Las Vegas Sun, New York Daily News.
McCain: Las Vegas Review-Journal, San Antonio Express-News, Columbus Dispatch (OH).
