Former Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on NBC’s Meet The Press today and as many expected, he endorsed Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama.
“Either on of them could be a good president.” Powell stated, “But which is the president that we need now? Which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time? And I’ve come to the conclusion that because of his [Barack Obama] ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities, as well as his substance, he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful president being an exceptional president, I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation, coming onto the world stage, the American stage, And for that reason, I will be voting for Barack Obama.”
Watch the Video of Colin Powell on Meet the Press:
Colin Powell also talked about his dislike for the political tactics of the McCain campaign in trying to link Barack Obama to Bill Ayers during the past couple weeks and in a current McCain Robo-call campaign. “This Bill Ayers situation that’s been going on for weeks became something of a central point of the campaign,” Powell said, “but Mr. McCain says he’s a washed out terrorist—well, why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have these robocalls going on around the country trying to suggest that because of this very, very limited relationship, that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, now Mr. Obama is tainted. What they’re trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings, and I think that’s inappropriate.”
Powell was also not impressed by John McCain when it came to the current economic crisis. “In the case of Mr McCain, I found that he was a little unsure as how to deal with the economic problems that we’re having,” Powell said. “Almost every day there was a different approach to the problem and that concerned me. You got the sense that he didn’t have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had.”
Powell also questioned McCain’s judgment in picking Sarah Palin as his VP, “She’s a very distinguished woman, and she’s to be admired.” Powell said, “But at the same time, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don’t believe she’s ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made.”
Tim Russert - May 7, 1950 - June 13, 2008