“There will be a crisis that will come along on the 21st or 22nd of January that we don’t even know about right now.”
Colin Powell, Oct. 19th 2008

 

Joe Biden said essentially the same thing a couple of days later to dramatically different effect. Colin Powell’s statement makes clear that it doesn’t make any difference who wins; the next president will be tested. But the problem with Biden’s statement is that it was off message.

 

At a time when Obama was cleaning McCain’s clock on the economy, Biden decided to talk about foreign policy. It was a mistake.  My guess is his ego got in the way. His strong suit is foreign policy, so maybe he was feeling a little left out.

 

Colin Powell introduced his endorsement of Barack Obama by suggesting that as a moderate, he didn’t care for his party’s move to the right over the past couple of years. He seemed even more taken aback by McCain’s embrace of this rightward movement. The thing that jumps out at you when you watch his endorsement - and I’ve watched it several times now – is how much it hurt him to “disappoint” his friend.

 

He wasn’t just turning his back on a friend. He was turning his back on a fellow soldier; a wounded veteran, no less. He said he’d gone back and forth for months before coming to this decision and I believe him. It’s the reason I was so offended when Rush Limbaugh and his ilk accused him of making this choice purely on the basis of the color of his skin.

 

Considering that Sarah Palin stated at one of her rallies that “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t support other women” accusing a black man of supporting the black candidate because he’s black is a bit hypocritical. She was quoting Madeline Albright out of context at the time, but the message was clear: women should vote her because she’s a woman. Rush Limbaugh didn’t have a problem with that.

 

The very selection of Sarah Palin was based on the idea that she would appeal to white women, frustrated by the way Hillary Clinton was treated in the primaries.  It didn’t work out, but Rush was more than happy to take whatever votes republicans could get, however they could get them.

 

As an African American, nothing offends me more than the suggestion I voted for Obama in the primaries or that I intend to vote for him in the general election, because he’s black. I’m voting for Obama because I think he’s the best man for the job.

 
But Colin anticipated the charge and dealt with it. He spelled out his reasons in plain English. Reasons people like Rush Limbaugh avoided dealing with by blaming it all on skin color. Colin Powell regards the current economic crisis as the “number one issue.” He said McCain seemed “unsure” what to do about the economy. That was a concern.

 

McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was also a concern. Having observed her over the past couple of months, he concluded she wasn’t qualified to be president, which, after all, is the job of the vice president. What piqued my interest was the way in which he dovetailed that observation with a discussion of Obama’s “intellectual curiosity, his depth of knowledge, his approach to looking at problems…” The stark contrast with Sarah Palin i.e. her lack of intellectual curiosity, depth of knowledge or serious approach to looking at problems, spoke volumes about John McCain’s judgment.

 

Colin has had some experience with people in the upper echelons of power who lack what he called “intellectual vigor.” My guess is he’s had his fill of the type and he doesn’t understand why John McCain would want someone like that at his side, a mere heartbeat away from the presidency.

 

Above all, Colin Powell loves his country. He judged McCain’s indecisiveness on the economy, the selection of Sarah Palin and certain of his campaign tactics as disqualifying. In short, he no longer recognizes his old friend. And unlike John McCain, he really is putting his country first.

 

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