The Powell Endorsement

I know this news came to the surface over the weekend, but I really wanted to gather my thoughts on the endorsement before I shared my views. It's one of those things where, to me, Colin Powell is a bit of a clown and one of the main reasons we ended up in Iraq war and his (as well as many others in Washington) line about having "misinformation", simply doesn't do the trick for me. I don't necessarily find his nomination surprising, but at the same time I don't find it un-surprising. Rush Limbaugh, who seems to be getting a lot of run on my blog lately, is claiming that the endorsement is "completely about race". In a sense he is right, but not in the sense that he thinks it is. Colin Powell, as he told eloquently on Meet The Press is clearly not happy with the way the McCain campaign has tried to paint Obama as a dangerous outsider. This also sort of touches on my previous post. But, really the reason for this blog is because Powell said something on MTP, that I have been saying for months upon months now. Here is his quote:

[Barack Obama] is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?

Powell goes on to talk about Muslim children in this country who may aspire to be president one day and how in this country it is wrong to send a message that they can not be. Bill Mahrer said today on Hardball With Chris Matthews, and I completely agree, that if you are not a Christian you have zero chance of success in mainstream American politics. Even Barack Obama talks a lot about his faith and to me that is simply wrong. Secular politics is the only form of successful politicking in my book. Also, if you are going to hit so hard on your Christianity Mr. John McCain, than why not practice what you preach? Would a true Christian really have one of their running themes throughout the debate attacking Obama for "wanting to spread the wealth around". Hm. Seems like something a Christian would be in favor of, doesn't it? Anyway, to get back on track with the Powell endorsement, I don't think his endorsement will really swing any votes, I just wanted to dispell the ignorance going around that Powell is somehow making a blindly racial presidential endorsement. He is not. Now, by this same token, I have a hard time believing he agrees with Barack Obama on all the issues, or even most of the issues, but I do believe that Colin Powell has faith in Obama as a man and decision maker who can lead our country out of tough times. He also knows that McCain, and he points to his nomination of Sarah Palin, is trying way too many political tricks and playing way too many games at such a serious time.