General Colin Powell: America's Center Right
By Endorsing Sen. Barack Obama Powell Is Signaling Country First
Oct 21, 2008
In a day that began with the announcement from Sen. Barack Obama's campaign that he had raised a record setting $150 million dollars (especially this deep in a Presidential campaign) for the month of September, the news just kept getting better with the subsequent announcement on the Sunday political talk show Meet the Press, by General Colin Powell that he was going to be crossing party lines and voting for the Senator from Illinois even though Powell is a registered Republican and Obama is the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.
Next President To Face Many Difficult Issues
According to Powell whoever wins the White House is going to be entering one of the most difficult economic, political, and security related periods the country has ever faced and is going to have to tackle them in a bipartisan way, Powell commented, "I think the number one issue the president is going to have to deal with is the economy. That's what the American people are worried about, and frankly, it's not just an American problem, its an international problem. We can see how all of these economies are linked in this globalized system. And I think the president has to reach out to the world and show that there is a new president, a new administration that is looking forward to working with our friends and allies. And in my judgment, also willing to talk to people who we have not been willing to talk to before. Because this is a time for outreach, Powell said.
America Is Going To Move Forward
According to Powell the economic set back the U.S. is experiencing is only a temporary condition. When asked by Meet the Press host Tom Brokaw if Powell were called to the oval office for a recommendation on where to begin, where would he start? Powell responded," The problems will always be there...and so I think what the president has to do is start using the power of the Oval Office and the power of his personality to convince the American people and to convince the world that America is solid, America is going to move forward, and we're going to fix our economic problems, we're going to meet our overseas obligations. But restoring a sense of purpose, a sense of confidence in the American people and [for] the international community, in America."
Powell Calls Obama 'Transformational Figure'
Powell said that he has known and been friends with Sen. John McCain for 25 years and that over the last couple of years he has gotten to know Sen. Obama "quite well." He went on to say, "Both men are distinguished Americans who are patriotic, who are dedicated to the welfare of our country, either of them would make a good president. I have said to Mr. McCain that I admire him for all that he has done, [but] I have some concerns about the direction that the [Republican] 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." Powell went on to say that he has been observing Mr. Obama especially over the last few weeks in regard to the country's financial crisis and has seen Mr. Obama as the steadier of the two. Powell commented," [Obama] has displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems like this and picked a vice president that is ready to be president on day one. Mr. Obama has given us a more inclusive, broader reach into the needs and aspirations of our people. He's crossing lines--ethnic lines, racial lines, generational lines. He's thinking about all villages have values, all towns have values, not just small towns have values."
Powell's Problems With McCain And The Republican Party
Powell said of McCain, "And I have also been disappointed, frankly, by some of the approaches that Senator McCain has taken recently, or his campaign ads, on issues that are not really central to the problems that the American people are worried about. 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 is a washed-out-terrorist. Well, then why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have these robocalls going on around the country trying to suggest that, because of this very, very limited relationship that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow, Mr. Obama is tainted. What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that is inappropriate." Powell went on to say, "Now I understand what politics is about. I know how you can go after one another, and that's good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for.
In Theory Couldn't A Muslim Be President Of The U.S.?
Towards the conclusion of Powell's statements he interjected the notion of a Muslim possibly becoming the President of the U.S. one day when he commented, "I am 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 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 with terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America," Powell said.
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