Powell for Obama?
June 13, 2008The Globe and Mail reports Colin Powell signalling the possibility he will vote for Obama:
VANCOUVER - Colin Powell, the former Republican secretary of state, says he is not ruling out a vote for Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for president.
While Mr. Powell served in the administrations of two Republican presidents, he suggested yesterday his support for presumed Republican nominee John McCain is not a forgone conclusion.
He noted that although both he and Mr. Obama are black, he would not cast a vote for the Illinois senator on the basis of race. “I will vote for the individual I think that brings the best set of tools to the problems of 21st-century America and the 21st-century world regardless of party, regardless of anything else other than the most qualified candidate,” Mr. Powell said at a news conference before delivering a speech to about 800 people attending a leadership forum at the Vancouver Convention Centre.
Republicans are defecting to Obama. While that does say something about the possibility of an impending decimation of the Republican Party, it also says something about Obama’s politics - not impossible for Republicans to swallow. That is consonant with my view of Obama’s politics but may be surprising to some Democrats who seem to think Obama carries the grail in his right hand.
Also, would an endorsement from Powell help Obama, or hurt him? Fascinating.
