October 25, 2008 @ 10:46 am

General Colin Powell has endorsed Obama, and yes, it really did bring tears to my eyes. Doing my morning read through of various blogs and reports, I found the news at The Huffington Post. His reasoning is interesting, and his conclusions about Obama’s stance are insightful, including this tidbit. Powell defended Obama against McCain’s latest charge that the Democrat’s policies are quasi-socialist:

“We can’t judge our people and hold our elections on that kind of basis. Yes, that kind of negativity troubled me. And the constant shifting of the argument, I was troubled a couple of weeks ago when in the middle of the crisis the campaign said ‘we’re going to go negative,’ and they announced it. ‘We’re going to go negative and attack his character through Bill Ayers.’ Now I guess the message this week is we’re going to call him a socialist. Mr. Obama is now a socialist, because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have. Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay them, in roads and airports and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good. And there’s nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is or who should be paying more or who should be paying les, and for us to say that makes you a socialist is an unfortunate characterization that I don’t think is accurate.”

Asked whether he still considers himself a Republican, Powell responded, “Yes.” [emphasis mine]

But here’s what brought tears to my eyes:

Powell . . . spoke passionately against the insinuations by some Republicans that Obama is a Muslim.

“Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian,” he said. “But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, ‘He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.’ This is not the way we should be doing it in America.” [emphasis mine]

Okay, I also teared up because I am very encouraged that we might actually get Bush and his cronies OUT.  But I was incredibly pleased to see such a respected man, someone who has experience working against terrorism coming out of small Muslim factions, speak positively about being Muslim in America.  Wow.  Someone had to say it – in the press – sooner or later, but it’s been a long time coming.

My guess is that if Powell had endorsed McCain, Obama would have a very tough 3 weeks ahead of him. With Powell’s endorsement, I think the chances are now excellent that Obama will be our 44^th president.