Colin Powell announced his endorsement of Barack Obama on Meet The Press on Sunday, October 19, 2008. Some say that Powell was trying to be more pragmatic, but it has long been known that Colin Powell is a very moderate Republican.
Powell has long been a respected figure in the Republican Party, but due to his moderate nature, and rumors that have been swirling around for months, his endorsement of Obama is not a surprise to many.
I respect Colin Powell. He is a capable speaker, an intelligent politician, and a man of honor. I respect his choice, though I disagree with it, and feel that with this choice he has made a grievous error in judgement.
I don't believe that Powell's decision to endorse Barack Obama is a poor one because McCain is an exceptional candidate, because he is not. I believe that Powell's decision to endorse Obama is a poor decision because Obama is such an exceptionally bad candidate.
All of the questions regarding Obama's character, honesty, and integrity aside, Obama's positions are hardly ones you'd think Powell would be on board with. Colin Powell is pro-choice, and is quite moderate on many of the social issues, but just the fact that Obama's entire platform was launched on "I was against the war from the beginning" while Powell was an instrumental part in determining that there were weapons of mass destruction and that the invasion of Iraq was necessary, creates an aura of confusion around Powell's decision to endorse Obama.
Rush Limbaugh declared today that the decision is all about race. That may have perhaps played a role, but I am taking Powell's word to be true when he said that the pick of Sarah Palin is what affected his choice.
Bill Handel, a local Los Angeles radio host on KFI radio, says that the only reason he is voting for Obama is because of Sarah Palin as well. Had McCain picked someone like Liebermann, then Handel says he'd be voting for McCain.
Specifically, Handel said that Sarah Palin scares him because she is a "far rightwing nut who wants to reverse Roe v. Wade, and believes dinosaurs roamed the Earth six thousand years ago."
Roe v. Wade cannot be "reversed," because the Federal Government legalizing abortion is unconstitutional in the first place. Roe v. Wade should be "eliminated," and the issue then needs to go to the states. It is a state issue, not a Federal issue.
But that aside, the fact that Palin is an Evangelical Christian is what is making these people nervous, as if putting a Christian in the White House will suddenly turn the United States of America into a theocracy, or something.
Are you kidding me? Are moderates and liberals that stupid? There has been a heavy Christian influence in this nation for 230 years, and it is hardly a theocracy, yet some little governor of Alaska is capable of making the nation swing in that direction?
My favorite argument, though, is when the liberal left proclaims that Palin's religious beliefs are fringe, and that "her brand of Christianity" is outside the mainstream. Evangelicals represent the largest Christian block outside of the Catholic Church in the U.S., and the belief system taught agrees with almost all of the non-Catholic and Protestant religions when considering the basic biblical message. How is that fringe? How is that outside the mainstream?
Lastly, it amazes me that there is so much grief about Sarah Palin's lack of experience, and her religious views, when Obama, who is at the top of the ticket, has less experience than Palin, and followed for twenty years a fringe religious doctrine, Black Liberation Theology. Why is it that he gets a pass (and remember, he's at the top of the Democratic Ticket), and Sarah Palin is under much more scrutiny?
Perhaps Colin Powell's decision, like a large number of Americans, was strongly affected by the lopsided reporting of the mainstream media.
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