Big Fat Story
"He has met the standard of an exceptional president"
Powell's dealt a blow to his old friend McCain by his high profile endorsement of Obama. And he laid in to the Republicans for becoming "narrower and narrower." On McCain's handling of the meltdown: "He didn't have a complete grasp." On Palin: "I don't believe she's ready to be president ... that raised some question in mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made." On Bill Ayers: "I think this goes too far, and I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow." On Obama’s religion: "What if he is [a Muslim]? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no, that's not America." On Obama: "He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage."
Did he see in Obama the end of his own presidential ambitions?
Ever since Powell was ejected from the Bush administration, he has become increasingly distanced from the Republicans. Yet he has been reluctant to make the break with the party he once hoped he would lead. His belated endorsement of Obama has not been greeted with universal praise. "Colin Powell was right about just about everything Sunday," writes Mike Lupica in the Daily News. "You just wonder now why it took someone as smart as he is, someone whose life is a hymn to all the possibilities of his city and his country, this long to come around."
Racism did not hinder Powell’s meteoric rise
Powell’s American journey is America’s journey. In My American Journey, Powell recalls growing up black in America. Born of Jamaican parents in Harlem, he was educated at the City College of New York where he joined the ROTC, then the Army. “The discipline, the structure, the camaraderie, the sense of belonging were what I craved. I became a leader almost immediately...Race, color, background, income meant nothing.” Powell knows personally what discrimination was like, but he has long been color blind. From Vietnam to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he led the victorious Allied Gulf War forces, Powell’s public service suggested he might become the first black president. “I would certainly not run simply because I saw myself as the ‘Great Black Hope,’ providing a role model for African Americans or a symbol to whites of racism overcome,” he wrote. “I would enter only because I had a vision for this country.” As it turns out, Obama beat him to it.
The Powell Effect
Colin Powell was the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the first black secretary of state, unthinkable when he was born. Now he has endorsed the first likely black president. Was it about race—or merit?
Was Colin Powell's endorsement of Obama an expression of black solidarity, as some on the right have charged? Or a swipe at the GOP's record on race? "I believe I can help the party of Lincoln move once again close to the spirit of Lincoln," he told the 1996 Republican convention, adding, "We might be black and treated as second-class citizens. But, stick with it, because in America, justice will eventually triumph and the powerful, searing promise of the founding fathers will come true." Unpersuaded by Powell's statement that he was indifferent to Obama's race, Limbaugh went hunting for examples of Powell backing liberals who were white. "I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed," he said.
Retired Army Intel officer Patrick Lang takes issue with Powell, his embrace of faulty intelligence and the Obama endorsement.
Loyalty prevented him from breaking cleanly with Bush
After he stepped down as Secretary of State, Powell continued to be restrained about criticizing Bush. Slowly he began to let it be known he felt he had been poorly treated by Cheney and others, that the conduct of the Iraq War was deficient, and the administration’s response to Katrina wholly inadequate. Yet still he could not bring himself to fully break with his former colleagues. “Loyalty is a trait that I value, and yes, I am loyal,” he told Barbara Walters. “And there are some who say, 'Well, you shouldn't have supported it. You should have resigned.' But I'm glad that Saddam Hussein is gone. I'm glad that that regime is gone.”
Powell's speech to the UN providing the reasons for going to war with Saddam Hussein, spelling out details of his weapons of mass destruction program, was the low point of his career. He felt obliged to boost the administration but felt his reputation was being put on the line. Cheney told him, "You've got high poll ratings; you can afford to lose a few points." One of his aides said the White House’s instruction was to "go up there and sell it, and we'll have moved forward a peg or two. Fall on your damn sword and kill yourself, and I'll be happy, too." Although the speech had been purged of many errors, other dubious claims remained.
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