Colin Powell appeared on Meet The Press this morning and announced he was endorsing Barack Obama for President.  He reiterated his deep respect for John McCain and said he is qualified to be President, but despite that, he said the country needs a "transformational" figure.  During his interview, he criticized both McCain's campaign and the national Republican party.  Here are some quotes from Colin Powell:


"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."

"She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired," he said. "But at the same, 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. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made."

"And I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities — and you have to take that into account — as well as his substance — he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."


     So, just to summarize, Colin Powell apparently doesn't think John McCain reaches out "across America", he has poor judgement, and doesn't like the tone of his campaign.  He obviously doesn't think being associated with a terrorist is a big deal, paying over $800,000 to ACORN, who is being investigated for voter registration fraud is a big deal, or regularly attending a church with anti-American views is a big deal.  The other big problem I have is Powell's concern over who John McCain would appoint to the Supreme Court.  If he has such a problem with John McCain's judgement and the judgement of his party, then why is he still a Republican?

     There are times I'm not thrilled with a Republican candidate.  If I were a public official, I wouldn't publicly endorse a candidate I didn't strongly support.  However, I wouldn't come out and publicly endorse someone from another party.  I would stay publicly neutral.  If Colin Powell is endorsing the Democratic candidate, and worries about Republican nominations, maybe he should consider leaving the party.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081019/pl_politico/14714