Colin Powell Endorses Obama

There are endorsements and then there are endorsements.

Today former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Join Chiefs, Colin Powell, endorsed the candidacy of Barack Obama. Consider that Powell served President Reagan as National Security Advisor. He was Chair of the Joint Chiefs under the first Bush presidency, and then was GW's first Secretary of State. He is a moderate Republican and he's a longtime friend of John McCain.

But today, he made up his mind, and threw his lot with Obama. His reasons are quite clear, and it's not just because Obama is African-American. It has to do with temperament, judgment, and vision. It has to do with whom John McCain has been surrounding himself -- the same neo-cons that got us into Iraq. Powell doesn't like the direction of the party and believes that the Sarah Palin choice was a bad one.

Do endorsements matter? Maybe, maybe not. But this one is an important one, for it comes from one of the nation's foremost experts on foreign affairs and the military. Do the two agree on everything? Likely not. But Powell believes that we would be better served with an Obama presidency -- and I agree!