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Gen. Colin Powell Endorses Obama on Meet the Press

Republican Powell Endorses Obama

MSNBC reports that retired General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama on Meet the Press today, “because of his ability to inspire and lead.” Colin Powell is a

Noting that the Republican party is moving much farther to the right, and that McCain’s focus has become much narrower, Powell criticized McCain’s negative ad campaign tactics.

Obama displayed the depth of judgment needed, said Powell.

Speaking to the press afterwards, Powell said that Obama brings ”a fresh set of ideas to the table.” He continued, “Senator Obama has shown the calm, patient, intellectual approach to solving problems that we need in this country.”

Speaking of the Iraq war, Powell said that things are beginning to turn around, and that the Iraqis are going to have to be responsible for their own future.

Returning to talk of the campaign, he said that the presidential election should not be about “who’s a Muslim and who’s not a Muslim; those types of images going out on al Jazeera are killing us right now.”

Powell invoked this image of a fallen soldier’s mother and gravestone.

Powell also discussed current events of politcial discourse, saying “We need to stop this kind of nonsense”, speaking of the recent comments by Minnesota’s GOP Representative Michelle Bachmann, who has called for a McCarthy-like witch hunt into the patriotism of congress members.

Concerning taxes, Powell said that “taxes are always a redistribution of money…and taxes are necessary for the common good.” As for the notion that Obama’s ideas are ’socialist’, as asserted by the McCain campaign, Powell described them as “an unfortunate characterization that is not accurate.”

“This is the gold standard in terms of endorsements”, said the Obama campaign.

Powell says he does not have plans to campaign for Obama.

Gen. Colin Powell was the 65th United States Secretary of State under President George W. Bush (2001-2005), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989-1993), and National Security Advisor (1987-1989).

Images: msnbc.com, drudgereport.com, http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/09/29/slideshow_080929_platon?slide=16#showHeader