Endorsed

This morning on Meet the Press with Tom Brokaw, Colin Powell, a hailed general and former Secretary of State (among many other remarkable honors), endorsed Barack Obama’s bid for the presidency.  Mr. Powell’s lucid articulation combined with his characteristically cogent reasoning this morning.  Mr. Powell conveyed the sense that his decision carried with it a tremendous weight, as he reiterated his unquestionable regard for Mr. McCain, as a man and politician, before issuing his support for Mr. Obama.  Ultimately, Mr. Obama has created the truly transformative vision for our country’s future, on the world stage and on the homefront, Mr. Powell seemed to conclude.  A “generational” shift, among others, was sited by Mr. Powell as a key asset that Mr. Obama will bring with him into office.  

Now then, Mr. Powell “is military.”  He also claimed to identify with “compassionate conservatism” and would not recant on his prior statements legitimating controversial Bush administration decisions.  This man would appear to have experienced an utterly profound inner struggle during the past several weeks leading up to his endorsement.  Not only did Mr. Powell express sincere affection and admiration for Mr. McCain resulting from a long history with him, but confided that he had looked to the Obama campaign in recent weeks to see proof of Mr. Obama’s preparedness for leadership.  The tide of Mr. Powell’s favor in no way seemed to be biased toward Mr. Obama until this morning.  And when pressed about the role that race might play (or might be supposed by the public to play) in his endorsement decision, Mr. Powell firmly insisted and compelling suggested that, were it the case that race had factored into his decision to endorse Mr. Obama, he would have made his endorsement long before today.  In a touching and patriotic note however, he added that should we elect Mr. Obama, all of us would have reason to be proud of the fact that he is an African American.

No matter the factors involved in Mr. Powell’s decision, his endorsement ought to quickly stir up commotion in these last few days before the election.  At the very least, Mr. Powell placed our campaigns back in the realm of The Issues and declared character or trustworthiness a non-issue.  The main message that Mr. Powell’s endorsement will send to all who consider it, I believe, is that qualms raised about Mr. Obama’s potential to act as commander and chief of our military should be put to rest. No small message!