Colin Powell backs Barack Obama

perseus

perseus

Active member
Is this the final nail in John McCain's coffin?


Mr Powell's endorsement carries weight.....This is in part because, as a former chairman of the Joint chiefs of Staff and former secretary of state, Colin Powell's backing says to undecided American voters "I trust this man as the Commander in Chief and so you should too".

Mr Powell's support will be seen as a significant boost to the Obama campaign a little over two weeks before voting day.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7678788.stm
 
The Other Guy said:
Powell's a great man. Always liked him, and I really hated how the Bush Administration treated him.
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I think that precisely why he is supporting Obama, alittle payback to his old bosses. I don't blame him, they let him look like a world-class jerk with that Anthrax stunt in front of the entire UN. That's something I wouldn't be forgetting too easily either...

I also agree with Perseus, this endorsement could be the final nail in the McCain coffin, for Powell to be endorsing Obama indicates a serious lack of faith in McCain's leadership. According to Powell "he wanted a government that was a change in direction to the current administration", that would mean McCain is too similar to Bush? I believe others have made a similar argument.
 
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perseus said:
Is this the final nail in John McCain's coffin?


Mr Powell's endorsement carries weight.....This is in part because, as a former chairman of the Joint chiefs of Staff and former secretary of state, Colin Powell's backing says to undecided American voters "I trust this man as the Commander in Chief and so you should too".

Mr Powell's support will be seen as a significant boost to the Obama campaign a little over two weeks before voting day.
o.gif


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7678788.stm
Click to expand...

I don't think Powell's credentials mean anywhere near as much as his popularity and I have no idea whether he still carries the same level of popularity he did before he got involved with Bush &Co.

His endorsement is not necessarily going to do anything more than solidify some of the weaker support Obama has and while it may bring in a few of the remaining undecideds (which there doesn't appear to be a lot of) it will have next to no effect on McCain's Republican base. Basically I think it just solidifies the status quo.
 
Well if I was a US citizen it would carry a lot of weight for me.
He was the only guy with his head screwed on straight perhaps along with Condoleeza Rice in the whole administration and his crew sent him to be destroyed at the UN.
This endorsement would make me seriously consider voting Obama.
The only issue is Iraq. It seems America is starting to win over there. Will Obama simply throw that away to appease the masses who voted for him? That's the major snagging point. If Obama realized that things are not as bad as they were, General Petraeus has turned things around and America should stick to a plan of staying until the job is done (looks realistic now) then I'd say voting for Obama is a no brainer.
 
perseus said:
Is this the final nail in John McCain's coffin?


Mr Powell's endorsement carries weight.....This is in part because, as a former chairman of the Joint chiefs of Staff and former secretary of state, Colin Powell's backing says to undecided American voters "I trust this man as the Commander in Chief and so you should too".

Mr Powell's support will be seen as a significant boost to the Obama campaign a little over two weeks before voting day.
o.gif


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7678788.stm
Click to expand...

Just about!!!

Obama now 1.08
McCain now 7.50 and blowing out by the day. Goodbye Johnny! Bookies are usually right with their odds.

Will the fence sitters finally start climbing down off the fence before they get more splinters in their behinds? It's pathetic really.
 
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the_13th_redneck said:
Well if I was a US citizen it would carry a lot of weight for me.
He was the only guy with his head screwed on straight perhaps along with Condoleeza Rice in the whole administration and his crew sent him to be destroyed at the UN.
This endorsement would make me seriously consider voting Obama.
The only issue is Iraq. It seems America is starting to win over there. Will Obama simply throw that away to appease the masses who voted for him? That's the major snagging point. If Obama realized that things are not as bad as they were, General Petraeus has turned things around and America should stick to a plan of staying until the job is done (looks realistic now) then I'd say voting for Obama is a no brainer.
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McCains plan for Iraq has been pretty much blown out of the water by the Iraqi's themselves wanting the US out by the end of 2011 and what is proposed is pretty much what Obama was pushing anyway.

The biggest problem with McCains plan in Iraq is that it makes the wishes of the Iraqi's secondary and in this case he seems a day late and a dollar short.

In terms of Powell's endorsement I kind of figured that his treatment by the Bush administration would have made him a card carrying Democrat which is why I struggle to believe his "it is all about McCains campaign" line.
 
I just hope Obama doesn't pull the plug prematurely.
I think a general pullout of American forces in Iraq was always on the board. I don't think anyone, including President Bush foresaw having American troops stand guard there pretty much forever. I think the attitude was they had to stay until the job got done.
I don't think the Iraqis will mind a small presence but understandably they want control over their own country. Hopefully this will be achieved, but it won't if America cuts and runs well before its own time.
 
Won't sway me. If General Powell were running I'd vote for him. But just because he's supporting Obama is not enough to sway my vote to Obama.
 
Here's a report on the Bradley/Wilder effect where whites can desert a black candidate on polling day. It seems that the primaries suggest this is unlikely in Obama's case.

Research by psychologist Anthony Greenwald and political scientist Bethany Albertson of the University of Washington, suggests Mr Obama benefited from a reverse Bradley effect in 12 states during the primary elections, while the Bradley effect itself was noticeable in only three.
A study by Harvard researcher Daniel Hopkins of 133 gubernatorial and senatorial elections from 1989 to 2006 also showed no recent significant Bradley-Wilder effect. Other polls, meanwhile, suggest that white Americans have steadily become less reluctant to vote for a black person in the last few decades.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/us_elections_2008/7675551.stm
 
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03USMC said:
And did I say I was voting for them? Or did you divine that in yer crystal freakin ball?
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Hehe welcome to the world of the disinterested voter.

:p

Our elections are on the weekend after yours and I just cant get excited about it, while both sides have their good points and bad points I just don't trust either enough to want to vote for them.
 
There are no less than 13 Pres./VP candidates available to choose from on the ballot that I have in front of me! The BTP is last on that long list and has someone named Charles Jay for Pres. and John Wayne Smith for VP :smile:
 
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