# Colin Powell endorses Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 19, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636 "2008-10-19T13:25:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/101 "2008-10-20T00:43:58Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > So why didn’t he do it a month ago? > > A: He was waiting to see who would pull ahead. Why didn’t he do it a year ago when it was plain as a cum-stained dress that McCain was lying out of every orifice in order to make his last shot at the Presidency? Why didn’t he come out when they nominated–of all possible candidates–Sarah Palin as a clear grasping attempt to court or at least nullify the Hillary contingent? Jeezus Cristatos, Robert McNamara–who has a standing personal policy of not criticizing the actions of sitting Presidents or SecDefs–stood up and said the Bush Administration was fucking a poodle when it came to Iraq, Afghanistan, and world relations as a whole. Colin Powell went from being a man of great personal integrity to one who just sat on the sidelines and let one bad play after another occur without even color commentary. Perhaps he “has his reasons” but that doesn’t mean he has earned the Fallen On Sword Award Of The Year. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/102 "2008-10-20T00:46:25Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > They certainly seem to be in an uprorar over something that “doesn’t matter” (their words, not mine). Did Powell even comment on O.J. ever? WTF? Good god, they’re getting more and more amusing as time goes on. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/103 "2008-10-20T00:51:19Z")
The [Freepers](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2109445/posts) are calling Powell a traitor and a racist and other things. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/104 "2008-10-20T00:54:42Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > So you see this truly says something. In this country a white person voting for a McCain because he’s white is racist, but a black person voting for Obama because he’s black is NOT a racist. :rolleyes: [It ain’t the same.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=468929) There’s no equivalency between the two. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/105 "2008-10-20T01:02:11Z")
IMO, this seals the election. Too many people still like and respect the man (despite his shilling for the war and silence on many issues), and they will see this as a clincher to go ahead and vote for Obama. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/106 "2008-10-20T01:17:44Z")
> [@IClaudius](#): > > I thought conservatives were meant to despise the very idea of a collectivisation of racial identity as politics . . . That’s a fairly recent development, however, going back only to the introduction of Affirmative Action. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/107 "2008-10-20T01:23:14Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I find it a distrubing trend. Clinton, Gore and Kerry each got about 90% of the black vote. Obama is getting nearly all of it. I can only assume that the trend you are disturbed by is that Democrats get 90% of the black vote. Obama does not appear to be breaking new ground in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/108 "2008-10-20T01:32:51Z")
> [@Jolly\_Roger](#): > > Coarse, maybe. But McCain could have picked plenty of others that do have the qualifications. He picked Palin because he wanted to appeal to women and HRC fans that might swing his way. I will admit that I don’t know what McCain’s thinking processes are. But thats my reading on it. If I’m proven wrong, she is still a horrible choice, just not one made for her gender. But i don’t really think I’m wrong. McCain is not stupid, he was not going to get any support from diehard Hillary supporters, all but a handful of whom are democrats first. He was trying to look open minded by picking a woman and keep the minds of the undecideds open to him and sway many of them. He was also trying to please his base, which likes Palin more than it likes him. The base is pleased with Palin. > [@JoeElliott](#): > > In addition, Powell mentioned the lack of experience of Palin. Well, what about Obama. What experience does he have? Oh, I forgot, he’s qualified simply because he’s eloquent and runs a good campaign. Get ready for your Messiah America. Let’s see if he can deliver. Can he change the world? Can he? > > Joe Elliott Community organizer, lawyer, constitutional law professor, state legislator for several years, United States Senator. Palin: mayor of town of about 10,000, Governor of the Great State of Alaska for a short time, hockey mom hottie. Palin is a very big fish in a politically small pond, Obama is a big fish in a big pond. Palin got condemned for ethics _ **by her own party** _ for trying to get her brother-in-law fired. Obama has no ethics charges pending, nor criticism from within his own party. Experience here is not close for people who are not “in the tank” for Palin. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/109 "2008-10-20T01:44:20Z")
If Powell is racist for endorsing Obama instead of McCain, is Leiberman racist for endorsing McCain instead of Obama? I may be wrong, but I don’t remember anyone of prominence intimating that Leiberman had racial reasons for crossing party lines and backing McCain. There’s no reason why Powell–whose moderateness is no secret–shouldn’t be treated the same way. Are you listening, Pat Buchanan? To me, Powell’s public endorsement has significance because he made it in the first place. At this point he could have just as easily remained silent and let the election continue on its current pro-Obama trajectory. But he chose not to do so, even though surely he knew that by speaking out he’d be inviting charges of racism, opportunism, and party disloyalty. Obama doesn’t need an endorsement from him at this point, so I don’t buy **spoke’s** theory of career ambition. Powell could have probably gotten a job from BO with or without an endorsement. I think this was his way of getting back at the GOP. He’s mad and will continue to be mad about what Iraq did to his reputation, and this endorsement is payback for that. He wanted to make sure that there was enough evidence that an Obama victory is on the horizon before stepping out and pushing McCain and the rest of the party under the bus. His criticism of the GOP means that he thinks Obama is going to win, and therefore he feels safe enough from Republican retaliation to trash talk them. I think he’s trying to repair his image and legacy. Even though the move is 100% self-serving, I can’t fault him for it. Everything he said in his speech was right and true and it should have been said a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/110 "2008-10-20T01:50:26Z")
> [@Enfant Terrible](#): > > Ummm… enjoy? > > [Colin Powell endorses Obama](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2109445/posts) I’d click on that link, but I am afraid I would lose my soul. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/111 "2008-10-20T01:54:01Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The real question is would Powell have endorsed Hillary? No, would he endorsed Edwards? No Maybe because Powell thinks Barack Obama is better suited to be commander-in-chief than either Hillary or Edwards? Which is kinda exactly the point Powell made today. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/112 "2008-10-20T03:05:33Z")
One of the things I’ve seen in Career Military People is the idea that one should never, not under any circumstances, criticize one’s superiors or disobey their instructions. Unfortunately, even when it means they’re flat out wrong or when you are ordered to do something that you know is wrong. Now I can only assume that this is based on the idea that blame will flow to the one who issued the orders, but time and again I see good people bitten by that assumption when it is spectacularly untrue anywhere outside the military. (And it could be argued that it isn’t always true IN the military.) Bosses are more than happy to order you to do something wrong, then allow you to take the blame for them when it all catches up with them. Because when they’re doing it, it’s all about doing whatever they think they need to do; and when they’re caught, it’s about saving their own asses first. I saw it with a former supervisor. We got to know the look on his face rather well, calling him on it when we knew that he was not happy with instructions from our Director, when we both knew that the party line was pure bullshit, but he wasn’t about to say anything to the contrary. And I think that’s what happened to Colin Powell. He was a Man of Integrity that they knew they could order to lie for them, and he would do it, because he was loyal and that was **the way it is done**. I also think that’s why he left, because he got tired of being used, of having his own reputation and integrity destroyed for the benefit of others. But then, this is all just my guess and not anything I know for certain. Racism? Unfortunately, as I see on my job every day, the cry of racism is all too commonly used as a weapon of distraction by those who cannot argue with the facts of the situation or defend their own behavior on it’s merits. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/113 "2008-10-20T04:10:11Z")
[In the press conference after MTP](http://threelinepunditry.blogspot.com/2008/10/follow-up.html), Powell did an even better job of explaining why he’s disgusted with the tenor of the Republican party and its ‘ideas’ these days. He discusses McCain _et al_’s harping on ‘socialism’, Michelle Bachmann’s call for 21st century McCarthyism, and other aspects of the party’s narrowminded rightward shift that he decries. Why does he remain a Republican? God knows. Maybe hope springs eternal that he’ll be able to fix the party from within. In any event, between his endorsement and the above linked statement, he speaks more eloquently and honestly on certain subjects (particularly the “so what if he _were_ a Muslim?” and tax issues) than most Democrat politicians do, even though they undoubtedly agree with him. Though, to be fair to the Democrats, Powell feels free to say this stuff because he hasn’t yet been burned by having been called a tax-and-spend pinko terrorist-pal. By the end of the week, he’ll be used to it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/114 "2008-10-20T04:24:29Z")
[The Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/19/AR2008101900598.html?hpid=topnews)makes this interesting note about Powell’s political history: > [@](#): > > Powell, an African American who headed the armed forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, was touted in 1995 as the only person who could upset Clinton’s 1996 reelection bid. Then a registered independent, he rejected a run at the presidency but announced he would join the Republican Party and try to reverse what he considered its dangerous turn to the right. But Powell quickly withdrew from politics and turned his attention to working with minority youth. He reentered the political limelight when he agreed to support George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/115 "2008-10-20T05:00:55Z")
The MSM is dancing around it, but everyone I’ve talked to about Powell’s endorsement is saying Powell did it because Obama is black. It’s hard not to make that leap of logic when no other member of the Bush administration is supporting Obama. Not that I blame him for it, but his endorsement won’t change any votes. ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/116 "2008-10-20T05:03:33Z")
Amazing. Now we get racism along with sexism in to the race. Good job Powell. You are an asshole who kissed bush’s ass for far too long. Now you want to whine because your wife nixed your presidential bid. Fuck off. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/117 "2008-10-20T05:21:00Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > Amazing. Now we get racism along with sexism in to the race. Good job Powell. Oh, yeah, I’m off to Pit Colin Powell for introducing racism to this presidential election. You didn’t hear a peep about it until he butted in. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/118 "2008-10-20T06:48:28Z")
First off, saying he only endorsed Obama because he’s black is in itself a little racist. I, being a rational human being who actually thinks about stuff once in a awhile find Obama to be the only choice possible. Why is it impossible that Powell, a very intelligent human being, and a very moderate republican could come up to the same decision? Are black people too simple to think about issues? The country is full of sane, intelligent moderate republicans who are sick of McCain’s lying bullshit and want the country put back on the tracks. Just because you don’t like it, don’t pretend you know that race is the deciding factor. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/119 "2008-10-20T13:20:21Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > Amazing. Now we get racism along with sexism in to the race. Good job Powell. You are an asshole who kissed bush’s ass for far too long. Now you want to whine because your wife nixed your presidential bid. > > Fuck off. What the hell are you talking about? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636/120 "2008-10-20T13:23:34Z")
Rather than start a new thread (I thought about it), I’m curious – what endorsement would be a slam dunk for either candidate? Like with Powell, it seems like an endorsement from across the aisle has more impact. What if, say, Bill Clinton endorsed McCain, or New Gingrich endorsed Obama? Would it matter, or just create news waves? Is there anyone that would make you reconsider your choice? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-endorses-obama/468636.md?page=7)