Merged Colin Powell to endorse Obama on Meet the Press?

[not_so_new]

Wow. Just wow.

Ok. I was already going to vote for Obama, but listening to Colin Powell endorse him in the way he did makes me feel good about the vote.

Yep, I agree.

And I think this is going to go long way to help pull in military people. It makes it "okay" for a military man or woman to vote for a Democrat. As someone said on Meet The Press, this is the leading military leader of our time.

 

[Cicero]

Maybe Obama can give Powell a special cabinet positon as his interpreter of national security reconnaissance photos. Powell will be going to the U.N. with a photo of Saturn saying it is actually an alien spaceship.

 

[davefoc]

If he does endorse, it will be Obama. The backlash from him on a McCain endorsement would be, albeit unfair, HUGE.

I suspect you are right. I think he will not officially come out and endorse either, but I think he will comment very strongly about Obama, which may get played as an indirect endorsement of him. It will make little difference in the polls.

TAM

FWIW, I thought you were exactly right.

I underestimated his ability to make an endorsement that would significantly help Obama and without that I just didn't think he would take a highly public stand.

Obviously I was wrong, the endorsement was perfectly done and it is likely to appeal to a wide range of Americans. Powell's endorsement might turn out to be the most important one to date for Obama. Although, arguably, the Ted Kennedy endorsement might have been more important in that without it Obama probably wouldn't have won the Democratic nomination.

I think I'll go see how Fox News is spinning this. It will force them to take a break from their 24/7 Bill Ayers/ACORN coverage, but I'm sure that will resume after a suitably brief interlude while they deal with this.

 

[Nogbad]

I thought Powell one of the more articulate and thoughtful of Bush's first cabinet, GW himself would have done better to have paid more heed to Powell than Rumsfeld.

Actually, Obama could do a lot worse than ask Powell to play a role in his Government.

 

[Cicero]

I think I'll go see how Fox News is spinning this. It will force them to take a break from their 24/7 Bill Ayers/ACORN coverage, but I'm sure that will resume after a suitably brief interlude while they deal with this.

Don't hold your breath if you think the msm will suspend their 24/7 coverage of "Joe's" tax problems, driver's license problems, plumber's license problems, and overall outrageous behavior for asking Obama a question, just because Powell has endorsed Obama. They will manage to handle both simultaneously.

 

[Meadmaker]

Although, arguably, the Ted Kennedy endorsement might have been more important in that without it Obama probably wouldn't have won the Democratic nomination.

I think the Oprah endorsement was more influential. It was what vaulted him up in the polls just in time to win Iowa.

However, I'm a lot more enthusiastic about the Powell endorsement than the Oprah endorsement. I would vote for Powell in a second.

 

[davefoc]

I think the Oprah endorsement was more influential. It was what vaulted him up in the polls just in time to win Iowa.

However, I'm a lot more enthusiastic about the Powell endorsement than the Oprah endorsement. I would vote for Powell in a second.

Good point, I didn't think about the Oprah endorsement when I made my post. I was never that sure how valuable her support was. The Ted Kennedy endorsement resonated with me. Not because we are in sync politically, I am well to the right of Kennedy on many issues. It resonated with me because Kennedy clearly wasn't angling for a job or political support from Obama. He did it either because he genuinely believed Obama would make a good president or because he didn't like the Clintons. I chose to believe the former.

I'm not as enthusiastic about Powell as you are. He played the good soldier in the Bush administration and as such he served as an enabler for their excesses.

 

[Dr Adequate]

Don't hold your breath if you think the msm will suspend their 24/7 coverage of "Joe's" tax problems, driver's license problems, plumber's license problems, and overall outrageous behavior for asking Obama a question, just because Powell has endorsed Obama. They will manage to handle both simultaneously.

The mainstream media, huh? Let's take a look.

CNN's top stories ...

1 Colin Powell endorses Obama
2 Sarah Palin appears on 'SNL'
3 Obama raises record $150 million
4 U.S. student accused of slaying
5 Official: Sarkozy's account hacked
6 Ex-Beijing official gets sentenced
7 NATO warships to deter pirates
8 Rescued climber ate centipedes
9 McCain ramps up attacks on Obama
10 Taliban bus attack kills 31

Meanwhile a search on their website for "plumber" reveals no such stories as you describe. Indeed, searching for a story involving the words "Joe", "plumber" and "license" turns up exactly one story, from 1997.

Still, don't let the facts stand in the way of a good paranoid rant.

 

[joobz]

Don't hold your breath if you think the msm will suspend their 24/7 coverage of "Joe's" tax problems, driver's license problems, plumber's license problems, and overall outrageous behavior for asking Obama a question, just because Powell has endorsed Obama. They will manage to handle both simultaneously.

Powell endorses Obama, and your only response is to reference Joe the Plumber. Instead of being on topic, you are doing exactly what you accuse the "MSM" of doing.

 

[varwoche]

The mainstream media, huh? Let's take a look.

CNN's top stories ... [snip list of stories that omit Joe]

Meanwhile a search on their website for "plumber" reveals no such stories as you describe. Indeed, searching for a story involving the words "Joe", "plumber" and "license" turns up exactly one story, from 1997.

Still, don't let the facts stand in the way of a good paranoid rant.

C'mon Dr. A. CNN is just one channel. Surely there are other MSM outlets that are hawking Joe 24x7, otherwise why would Cicero make such an assertion?

MSNBC? Nothing.

CBS? Nothing.

ABC? Nothing.

Oops.

 

[T.A.M.]

Don't hold your breath if you think the msm will suspend their 24/7 coverage of "Joe's" tax problems, driver's license problems, plumber's license problems, and overall outrageous behavior for asking Obama a question, just because Powell has endorsed Obama. They will manage to handle both simultaneously.

Yes, likewise, do not hold your breath while you wait for the Palin/McCain ticket and Fox News to stop making this would be "Joe Six-Pack" in sheeps clothing, into McSame's connection to the "common man". Maybe Johnny can invite him up to one of the seven houses, or let him borrow one of his many cars...I mean they are kindred spirits and all...

TAM

 

[FaisonMars]

Amazing. I found his description of the photo of the mother at the Muslim soldier's grave and his defense of American Muslims as "real Americans" particularly moving. I've had the same thoughts (not as eloquently expressed) when McCain said that Obama is not an Arab, he's a "decent family man."

Despite his selling of bad intelligence at the U.N. to justify the Iraq War, I've always admired the guy, and today my esteem for him went through the roof.

 

[chipmunk stew]

Well, he's done it. We'll see in a few days whether or not the voters care one way or the other.

 

[varwoche]

Ah yes. "Certain people." Such as...(*scans thread*)...

Some posts (e.g. Dublab's posts, relentlessly) assume a posture that staking out middle ground somehow absolves the poster of the expectation that claims be grounded in the empirical world. You know, that pesky evidence stuff.

(I suspect that Dublab and I would find a great deal of common ground as to our views on extremism coming from both sides. But still.)

 

[tomwaits]

FWIW, Christopher Hitchens has called Powell the most overrated figure in American politics. Personally, I think he's a pretty smart guy who knew the implications of the Iraq war when he famously told Bush about the "Pottery Barn Rule". Unfortunately, his advice was ignored.

 

[BenBurch]

Frank Zappa was of Arab descent... And you just don't get more American.

 

[Dr Adequate]

So you are completely unfamiliar with Powell's presentation to the U.N. OK. I can understand why you would still attempt to alibi the guy who never thought to get the goods on WOMD's before going to the U.N.

It is of course Powell's fault for not demanding unequivocal evidence before going to the U.N. Did the CIA not trust him with top classified info? Didn't Powell have the proper clearance? He was Sec of State, not some third assistant to an assistant at the state department.

Yes, if only he'd had the courage and wisdom to speak out like this:

I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.

I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.​

Still, I guess the next best thing is to endorse the guy who did. I take it you must be a big fan of Obama, yes?

 

[davefoc]

...
I think I'll go see how Fox News is spinning this. It will force them to take a break from their 24/7 Bill Ayers/ACORN coverage, but I'm sure that will resume after a suitably brief interlude while they deal with this.

Well, I did pretty good on that prediction. We had Fox News on in the background as my wife and I went over the ballot propositions. During the period I was listening:

30 minutes or so of ACORN is terrible stories.

About 20 seconds of Powell endorses Obama
About 20 seconds of gas prices have dropped below $3 a gallon in places

30 minutes of Weatherman/Bill Ayers coverage with a big picture of Obama at the end of the detailed coverage of Weatherman's violent actions. This segment was still going when I turned Fox off.

Wow, 40 seconds (excluding commercials) of non anti-Obama programming in an hour. Fair and balanced programming at its best.

 

[LostAngeles]

Well, while the rumor may have started with awesome Fox racism, I'm glad to see that it's true.

Because if McCain's campaign tries to start (i.e Palin starts) they're in for an ass-kicking.

 

[Cicero]

C'mon Dr. A. CNN is just one channel. Surely there are other MSM outlets that are hawking Joe 24x7, otherwise why would Cicero make such an assertion?

MSNBC? Nothing.

CBS? Nothing.

ABC? Nothing.

Oops.

Time to make an appointment with an optometrist, or take a rudimentary reading class.

From your links:

MSNBC:

Question on debates
Would 'Joe the plumber' fare better under a John McCain or Barack Obama presidency?

CBS:

"Joe The Plumber" Lashes Out At Media"


ABC:

WATCH: 'Joe the Plumber' Fans Protest Obama Rally
"Joe The Plumber" Lashes Out At Media

This is too easy.