Palling Around With Republican Former Secretaries of State
Okay, I just actually watched the Powell endorsement on my Tivo, and I think it’s a more devastating blow to John McCain than I initially would have thought. Of course this won’t move real liberals, who don’t like Powell much and are already committed to Obama anyway. Nor will it move conservatives, who don’t like Powell either. But there are people out there — lots of people — who, just like Powell, voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and then again in 2004 even though maybe Bush was a bit too conservative for their tastes. Now those people maybe regret having done so and see that Bush was a disastrous president. But at the same time, the Democratic Party seems to have shifted left, and nominated a relatively green figure, while the GOP nominated someone who has a reputation for moderation.
And now here’s Powell, probably the only Republican moderate with a meaningful national profile, speaking in detail about problems with McCain, about the process of growing disillusioned with McCain, and vouching for Obama’s readiness to lead and fitness for office. In a lot of respects guys like Jim Leach and Wayne Gilchrest have, on the merits, been better messengers for this kind of message. But nobody knows who Leach and Gilchrest are, whereas everybody knows who Powell is. It’s a signal to every right-of-center person who maybe thinks the GOP has gotten too right-of-center that Obama’s okay. Meanwhile, it’s a reassuring reminder of what kind of people Obama does, in reality, pal around with. Powell was National Security Adviser under Ronald Reagan. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs under George H.W. Bush. And he was Secretary of State under George W. Bush. Those probably aren’t the most impressive qualifications to hard-core liberal blog readers, but to Powell’s fellow moderate Republicans I think that’s a pretty heavyweight resume.
38 Responses to “Palling Around With Republican Former Secretaries of State”
Register
RSSLogin
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Matt YglesiasContact Me
Donate
October 19th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Very well said. His arguments against McCain and for Obama were solid and very convincing. And I’m glad he articulated his distaste for the use of “Muslim” as a smear.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Speaking as a libertarian former “moderate Republican” who endorsed Bush back in 2000 and was mildly pleased with him before the terror obsession, inexcusable cronyism, and the contempt for transparency, reasoned discourse, and world opinion became evident….. yes, Powell’s is a heavyweight resume.
I’ve been aligned with Andrew Sullivan on this election for awhile now so my mind was already made up — and really, if you’re an informed person who was still undecided at this juncture then there may be something wrong with you — but I’m glad to have Powell’s heft behind my position now.
I’ll be poking at my more conservative friends and family with this endorsement, so it’s a good talking point in that respect.
Perk up, Dems. You’re becoming the big tent party. Please don’t screw government up more than it already has been.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
If it was up to me, Powell and the rest of the gang would be sitting in jail in The Hague serving life sentences, but I love his statement: divide et impera!
October 19th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Okay, we live in a two party system so we need a decent opposition for our Democracy to survive. I despise the Republican party at present, but we need it, but the party needs to change.
I think a movement to reform the Repubilican party could be built off of Powell’s remarks. First, lets really identify the problem. It’s not Mccain, its the huge nutter media that is devoted to lying to the people that are listening. So the rabid Republicans have become increasingly divorced from reality, and more generally for just good governance.
If I were the boys at Clear Channel or Fox I would start looking at my longterm prospects as a business model, or even a propaganda arm. Its not good when an increasing number of American who don’t listen to you see your brand as extreme, small-minded, and racist. Because that’s the bile they sell alongside Republican talking points. They need to clean up their acts, and I think moderate Republicans and democrats should identify them as the problem FOR THE REPUBLICANS!
October 19th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
The takeaway, in my view, is “supporting Barack Obama is the patriotic thing to do… especially given what many on the other side are peddling.”
This is grand, powerful stuff.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Extreme liberal bloggers are not interested in winning an election. They are interested in the purity of their posturing to each other. Obama is running for President. That’s an elective office. As I recall, to win an election a candidate needs votes from people who actually make the effort to vote. This concept seems to be difficult for some on the extremes of both parties to grasp. They would prefer to denounce and purge than to actually be able to do something like win an election. Winning an election is a confession of perversion of the ideal to them.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Suffice to say that the MTP video is a must-watch. If you haven’t seen it already, Sully has it posted. It’s absolutely devastating to McCain.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
He said what would be difficult for Obama to say: why is being Muslim even a smear? This is what disturbs me about the Obama is a Muslim thing. It shouldn’t even be a negative even if it were true.
October 19th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Of course it’s a must-watch, the Q&A outside as well. TPM has both vids.
October 19th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Well, of course Powell would endorse his fellow Muslim.
October 19th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
i thought it was a really, really powerful endorsement. that surprised me because I didn’t think it would be–i thought he would just spew out some banal talking points. But this election, these two men and this moment, was something that Powell had clearly thought very deeply about in a way that very few people do. And for that reason he was able to lay out the case for Obama in extraordinary clarity and insight, backed up by the weight of his cumulative life experience, from the unique perspective of a decorated military general, a Republican moderate close to the Bushes, but was still able to take a step back and see what kind of leader we needed for this moment in time–to truly put his country first.
This was the most powerful endorsement I’ve ever seen.
October 19th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Hate to burst your bubble, Matt, but Colin Powell is fucking despicable war criminal.
Turns out Obama really DOES pal around with terrorists.
October 19th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Since my earlier post seems to have been rejected, probably for containing profanity, let me reiterate:
COLIN POWELL IS A WAR CRIMINAL
Which is really more profane anyway: using the word f**k or praising a war criminal?
October 19th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Despite Powell’s role in starting the Iraq war, he has a lot of gravitas and I think what he has to say will have weight among moderate Republicans who are embarrassed by the thuggish turn their party has taken. Powell’s endorsement of Obama is strong, but it’s his denunciation of Rethuglican smear tactics that is even more significant. Powell minces no words in calling McCain out for embracing Rove’s politics of division and for stirring up the hatred in a time of crisis. I wish he would have stepped up to the plate earlier but, now that he has, I’m glad that he stated the case for Obama in a unambiguous, eloquent manner that I think will impress collar-county independents.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
What I find interesting is that a man with every reason to be diplomatic and equivocal was willing to be more forthright and admonishing than all but a handful of conservative pundits, who are supposedly paid to call ‘em like they see ‘em. Color me impressed.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Fiona: sorry, but celebrating the actions of a war criminal just because they have some tactical political value in an election whose result is already a foregone conclusion is beyond the pale, morally speaking.
Obama should have rejected his endorsement. Powell should be shunned and shamed. In fact, Powell should be tried at The Hague.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
In fact, Powell should be tried at The Hague.
I recommend using some of that energy to lobby your Senators to ratify the appropriate treaty to allow that to happen.
And, of course, if you’re a moral voter and accepting the Powell endorsement is “beyond the pale,” be sure not to vote for Obama.
Then again, given that Obama has always been a supporter of unilateral military action under a fairly broad range of circumstances, I don’t know that you would have supported him in the first place. Nader ‘08!
October 19th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I’m not surprised that Powell endorsed the democratic contender after the way the Bush administeration used and abused him and seriously damaged his reputation in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.
October 19th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
And now here’s Powell, probably the only Republican moderate with a meaningful national profile
Well, you’re forgetting John McCain. They were only two, and they can’t even be on the same side. This is the GOP exploding, right now (hopefully).
October 19th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
I’m not surprised that Powell endorsed the democratic contender after the way the Bush administeration used and abused him and seriously damaged his reputation in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.
I concur.
Powell’s political epitaph was written, long ago, by Henry Wootton:
“An ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country.”
It was a grevious fault and greviously hath Powell answer’d it.
To my mind, that makes his endorsement potent.
October 19th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
The perfect way for Powell to atone for his crime at the UN before the invasion of Iraq? President Obama makes him UN Ambassador. That way Powell can try to fix what he helped shatter — the world’s opinion of the United States of America.
Think about it. It works.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
I’d like to retract the last line of that last comment. God, did that make me sound like a jerk or what?
October 20th, 2008 at 12:03 am
idk. I’ll give it some thought.
October 20th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Thanks, James. I appreciate it.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:58 am
They talk about the “Reagan Democrat” men, but the Powell endorsement will sway a significant number of 25-49 year old moderate-conservative suburban white women who’ve been on the fence in this election. It’s a real coup.
October 20th, 2008 at 4:03 am
The perfect way for Powell to atone for his crime at the UN before the invasion of Iraq? President Obama makes him UN Ambassador.
Yes, because the rest of the UN will forget about that whole “look! blurry pictures of chemical weapons!” thing any decade now.
This is good news for Obama because it means that Powell, a smart man who has always put career before country, now reckons Obama is going to win, and is hoping for a job in 2009.
As for atonement, I would recommend that he make what the Japanese used to refer to as “the final apology”. After his roles in My Lai, Iran-Contra, the suppression of the Marsh Arabs and the Iraq War, I don’t really see what else he can do.
October 20th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
I get why people are saying this, but I don’t get why people don’t see the other side.
I think Powell chose the wrong course of action in going before the U.N. instead of say, resigning, but I don’t think he made a bad decision. He had a rationale for it and I think Powell thought of it this way:
“If I do this, I can stay behind, continue to work from the inside, and try to limit the number problems they create. Be an advocate for sanity. Or, I can leave, have them smear me, my family, and my friends, and then they’re going to do all this stuff and no one is going to be able to stop them or even slow them down.”
As far as “…hoping for a job in 2009…” Uh, he’s 71 years old. I think he’s done.
The most Powell said on MTP was that he would be willing to talk if Obama would be willing to listen.
October 21st, 2008 at 2:18 pm
As a left-of-center liberal, I really feel that Powell is someone I can trust and rely on. He’s a moderate that understands that ideology is useless in modern politics. As for working for Bush, well, I think the best way to describe it is that he’s always been a soldier. That’s what he said when I said he didn’t want to run for President, I think. He is happy furthering the cause of his superiors, and doesn’t want to call those shots.
And seriously, I don’t see how you can watch that video and not be in awe of the man. Serious, considerate, intelligent eloquence is very hard to come by these days (thank god for Barack Obama).
March 1st, 2009 at 5:58 pm
cialis
Great site. Good info
March 2nd, 2009 at 4:41 am
levitraGreat site. Good info
March 11th, 2009 at 4:23 am
I want to say – thank you for this!
March 12th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
March 14th, 2009 at 5:04 am
I bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!
xanax
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:00 am
tramadol
I bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!
April 2nd, 2009 at 5:03 am
I want to say – thank you for this!
buy cheap viagra
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:02 am
I bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!
cheap brand pfizer viagra
April 9th, 2009 at 5:07 am
Thanks for the review! viagra
April 16th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Badly need your help. Always be nice to those younger than you, because they are the ones who will be writing about you.
I am from Saudi and now teach English, give true I wrote the following sentence: “Com provide cheapest discount airline tickets to hyderabad, mumbai, bangalore, delhi india, asia and all over the world.”