Colin Powell didn't endorse Barack Obama for President on Meet the Press yesterday as he left the Republican Party.
While he praised Obama for being a transformational figure, the crux of his reason to endorse him was a repudiation of the Republican party.
He complained that the GOP is shifting to the right. He cited the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as proof of this shift - basically Republicans are becoming more conservative than he is comfortable with.
More telling even, was his statement that McCain nominating two more "conservative" justices to the United States Supreme Court was not something he wanted to see. Apparently he prefers judicial activists over those like Samuel Alito and John Roberts who do the job they were created to do - interpret the Constitution.
The Powell endorsement was not much of a surprise. He has leaned left for years and openly criticized the Bush Administration for the war in Iraq. What was surprising was that he railed against the Republican Party and conservatives as a whole. The funny thing is that so many conservatives saw the party lurching leftward with the nomination of McCain. Powell sees things exactly the opposite.
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3 comments:
Is Powell correct when he says that the Republican party is shifting to the right.
Here to answer that question is Minnesota Republican Senator Michelle Bachmann
Senator Michelle Bachmann on Hardball
After viewing her interview, tell me if you think Colin Powell was just being overly sensitive
Sorry, I just now saw your comment.
I think Colin Powell was just making a lame excuse for his endorsement of Obama.
First, you really have to question whether the party is "shifting" at all. Most conservatives would argue that the party took a huge step to the middle when nominating McCain. if you look at the fact that Karl Rove's strategy in the 2004 election was to mobilize the "base" - the conservative wing of the party - I would argue that the Republican Party has almost always been to the right and is not currently shifting farther right. I think Powell wanted the party to become more moderate and when they were hestitant to do so, he was unhappy.
I would also submit that there is a large gap ideologically within the party - a large contingent of the party is made up of moderates - fiscally conservative but more socially moderate or liberal. That is one of the great things about the GOP, but also one of its political weaknesses. Democratic party leadership is very far to the left - and they can get consesus on almost everything. The GOP has a much wider ideology and sometimes has a hard time finding enough support for the more conservative ideas.
Anyway, about Bachmann - I can understand why what she said would ruffle some feathers. But she is raising issues that are important to many voters - just because Democrats and most of the media don't want to touch this stuff doesn't mean its not a valid issue to raise.
This is why we should do away with the party system altogether.
But anyway, Powell is an ingrate that badmouths the Republican party to which he owes the fact that anyone knows his name. Which President named him to the Joint Chiefs of Staff? Which President named him Secretary of State? He goes where the wind blows him, where he thinks he will get the most press. If he had endorsed McCain, it would barely have gotten a quick pass on the news crawls, if that.
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