The Powell Endorsement,the Military Vote and the Candidate's Wife

Former Spook --- In From The Cold ^ | October 20, 2008

[2ndDivisionVet]

Barack Obama is going to make inroads with military voters--if you believe the pundit class.

Just moments after Colin Powell announced his support for the Democratic presidential nominee, NBC talking heads Joe Scarborough and Andrea Mitchell suggested that the endorsement of the retired general (and former Secretary of State) would translate into more military votes.

From the transcript of their appearance on "Meet the Press," the same program where General Powell revealed his support for Senator Obama:

MR. BROKAW: [Joe] You're very familiar with Florida. Will Colin Powell have much of an impact on that state, which is much more in play now?

MR. SCARBOROUGH: Well, sure, sure it will. I mean, one of the reasons why John McCain shocked Mitt Romney--remember the last two or three days most people thought Mitt Romney was going to win Florida. There is a huge military population in Florida and a very large retired military population in Florida. Colin Powell's endorsement helps him probably more in Florida than any other state.

[snip]

MR. BROKAW: Andrea Mitchell, is it enough for the Obama campaign just to get this endorsement this morning, or will they try to use him in ads and try to pull him out on the trail as well?

MS. ANDREA MITCHELL: Well, they're not going to be able to pull him out on the trail. He made that very clear to you, Tom. But it makes a difference--to expand on what Joe said--it makes a difference with the military in North Carolina and Virginia, two other states that have really big military populations; conceivably, also, in South Carolina as well.

Unfortunately, that theory has more holes than a target on a Marine rifle range. This blog has analyzed the military vote at length, and quite frankly, we don't see the troops breaking for Obama.

Consider the results of a recent survey conducted for the Military Times newspapers. According to that poll, career military officers and NCOs back John McCain by a 68-23% margin. A breakout of the data indicates that the only armed forces demographic where Obama has a majority is among African-Americans, who indicated that race was a key factor in their support.

Not surprisingly, the Times poll never came up during the NBC round table. That's hardly a surprise; as far as we can tell, neither Scarborough nor Ms. Mitchell served in the military, and it's doubtful they peruse military publications on a regular basis.

If they spent a little more time with members of the armed forces, the pundits would discover that the endorsements of retired flag officers have little sway over the military vote. While there is wide respect for Colin Powell in the armed services, it's difficult to imagine any officer, NCO, or junior enlisted member switching their vote on the basis of his endorsement.

It's no accident that John McCain enjoys wide support among military voters. They respect his decades of service to the nation and his own sacrifice as a POW in North Vietnam. They also understand that Senator McCain has a long record of supporting military personnel and their families. More importantly, members of the armed forces realize that Mr. McCain is ready to be Commander-in-Chief, and won't require "on the job training," borrowing Joe Biden's famous line on Barack Obama.

We also suspect that General Powell's stated reasons for backing the Democratic nominee-- including his concern about the "tone" of the GOP campaign--have little resonance among members of the armed forces and their families. If you've served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, you probably have other electoral priorities--say, ensuring that your hard-won victories on the ground aren't squandered by the next administration.

In our experience, military voters are exceptionally perceptive--far better informed than the public as a whole. Their political allegiances are largely based on the party (and candidates) that have traditionally supported them. That's why the vast majority of the armed forces will pull the lever for John McCain on election day.

Still, the Obama campaign keeps trying. The Politico's Mike Allen is touting Michelle Obama's outreach to military families, suggesting that it might become her "signature" cause as First Lady.

“Michelle Obama's focus on military families puts her at the leading edge of the Democratic nominee's campaign to reclaim some of the military vote from Republicans – an effort that brought Barack Obama here Sunday for a rally near Fort Bragg, where a military wife introduced him … Since the start of the campaign, Michelle Obama says she has focused on three things: keeping life normal for her young daughters, electing her husband, and discussing the work-life balance with women around the country. The spouses of service members captured her attention during a roundtable with working mothers, and she later hosted her first military-focused event in Fayetteville in May, a day before the North Carolina primary. She will hold her seventh military spouses meeting Tuesday in Pensacola, Fla., following similar events in recent months in states heavily impacted by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, including Virginia, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.”

Mr. Allen is a fine political reporter, who's generally fair in his coverage. Still, we'd offer him the same advice as the pundits at NBC. Take a closer look at these events--and their reception--before predicting that Obama will reclaim even a small portion of the military vote.

As we reported two months ago, Ms. Obama's "military forums" are nothing more than cleverly-contrived campaign events, similar to the rallies staged by her husband and John McCain. When Michelle Obama came to Norfolk in August, reporter Karen Jowers of Military Times discovered that forum participants were Obama campaign workers or supporters.

Again, there's nothing wrong with that. Packing your event with friendly crowds is the essence of smart politics.

But a little truth in advertising is also required. Media outlets have been incredibly disingenuous in depicting these "forums" as some sort of free-flowing exchange with military families. In reality, Ms. Obama is simply answering soft-ball questions from supporters.

If the prospective first lady is genuinely interested in a dialogue with members of the armed forces, she might have asked for a private meeting with the Officer's or NCO's Wives Club at any military installation. And hold the event without cameras or the media--just as George Bush has done in countless sessions with the families of troops killed or wounded on active duty.

But that's not the type of event that the Obama campaign is looking for. The military forums are also aimed at "softening" the image of Michelle Obama, who was widely criticized for saying that America is a "mean" place, and that she was "never proud of her country" until her husband sought the presidency. Giving Mrs. Obama the "military family portfolio" is one way to depict her as less strident and more compassionate.

We have no interest in sitting through carefully-scripted campaign events, but we'd pay major bucks for a front row seat at a real military forum with Michelle Obama. We wonder how she'd react when a member of the armed services (or a spouse) asked the candidate's wife if her husband is advocating surrender in Iraq, or why the nominee didn't mention the military as an acceptable form of public service in the early months of his campaign.

Now that would be an event worth attending.

[2ndDivisionVet]

They understand zilch about the military, but since they're on TV, they are "experts".

[lookout88]

Right, the military will vote for who will give them clear orders, and not risk their lives unnecessarily. I envision Osama pulling them out of Iraq, and putting them in Dar fur. Meanwhile, the despots plot our demise.......

[MrChips]

South Carolina? What has Andrea been smoking?

[FlingWingFlyer]

No veteran or active duty military person in their right mind would vote for Barack Hussein Obama. If they do, they probably shouldn’t be or have been in the military in the first place. People like Barack Hussein Obama is what our military has been fighting AGAINST for over 200 years.

[MrChips]

Why do we never see Michelle? We see Cindy all the time!

[muawiyah]

Here's what one group of votes will understand. It was Richard Armitage and Colon Powell who ratted out Valerie Plame (anyone recall that Democrat scandal?).

True to his word, George Bush fired both of them as soon as he found out.

What do Jewish Democrats think of the idea of bringing Powell back into government where he can rat out more Jewish CIA field operatives (where they could get killed)?

Then, too, what will a lot of the Far Leftwingtards think when they see that Obama has not only thrown them under the bus, he's now reaching under "W"'s bus to find senior advisers.

My prediction, we'd best act fast to get a DNA sample from Grandma in Hawaii.

[Ben Reyes]

I do not know of any military person who is so indecisive that he/she waits for thew opinion of a retired general to make up his/her own mind. That’s not how we in the military, active or retired, do it.

[PGR88]

6+ month ago, the Left said Powell was a Bush war-criminal

Now he is a wise and moderate force of reason (supporting Obama, of course)

Imagine if back in January in the Dem primaries, Obama brought up an endorsement from Powell - the far left would have given him fewer votes than even Biden.

[PhilDragoo]

Colin Powell pushed to get us off Saddam's back in 1991--so Saddam could reconstitute into the problem we had to readdress in 2003.

Powell and Armitage damaged the war effort for months on end by their guilty silence in the Plame scandal.

Powell has endorsed the candidate who, in 52 seconds, described the most radical disarming of the nation since the Clintons cut our military 40%.

The polls are skewed and the news slanted by tens of thousands of traitorous propagandists styling themselves "the media"--

--but the nation is in the main loyal to the American ideal, that America is the light of liberty and the guardian of freedom in the modern world.

Obama to unilaterally disarm America.

[Squantos]

Funny part is that had Powell endorsed McCain he’d have just been another republican uncle tom tool that would have been ignored by the MSM !

That he endorsed Barry Hussein Obama makes him a socialist tool / fool !

Great graphic Phil !

[BIGLOOK]

Powell has become a REMF.

[grantinev]

It’s about time Mr. Colon Powell was given his walking-papers. And it’s about time we put the iron boot to the notion that liberals are anything more than Commies dressed up to look presentable. The same for most Dems in congress. Michelle Bachman is correct about leftist and liberal members of Congress being un-American. Of course, the public doesn’t very much like the iron boot approach, but I think they can be “trained”.

[Travis McGee]

I read Powell’s bio years ago. The man is a disgusting faker who combined the Peter Principle with affirmative action to a degree I’ve never seen before.

As a young LT, he was an early advisor to the ARVN before the USA was engaged in serious combat ops. His ARVN company hardly ever left the base, and avoided contact with the VC. They essentially only left their base in full company strength, while banging drums and blowing bugles to alert the VC to avoid them. This is all from Powell’s book. No real combat was experienced by Powell.

Powell then spent the serious years of the VN war in Washington and at various military schools. While other LTs and Captains were engaged in heavy combat and were taking serious casualties, Powell went to one officer course and Pentagon billet after another. He totally avoided the bloody years of the VN war. By the time he went back to VN, he was a Major or LTCOL, I forget which, in a ballalion staff position. Again, NO COMBAT.

“SOMEHOW” Powell managed to do 2 tours in VN, both of which were devoid of combat action. During the bloody years when LTs and Captains were being killed every day as platoon and company commanders, Powell slid from billet to billet stateside. A total snake, even then using his race to advance into higher and higher positions, the first black this and the first black that. BUT NO COMBAT. “Just one of those things?” No way.

Compare him for example to David Hackworth, who was a from the ranks mustang officer. He kept turning down stateside officer courses and billets, “Because there’s a war on.” He was the opposite of Powell, going from combat command to combat command. I’m not a big Hackworth fan, I just mention him to contrast him to Powell, who did the opposite, going from stateside officer course to Pentagon office and on and on, until he had ranked out of the dangerous combat assignments, and didn’t return to VN until he was too senior to lead a company etc.

He’s a total fraud, the only thing he cares about is promoting Colin Powell.

[Travis McGee]

He was always a REMF. See above.

[Travis McGee]

c 13

[TADSLOS]

Yep. That’s Powell. The consummate affirmative action poster boy.

[CodeToad]

How he got to be C/JCOS is beyond me. Scott Adams of Dilbert fame sums it up as “He’s got the right hair.”

[The Shrew]

I read your 13 and read Powell's autobiography several times.(Heck, I quote him on my Freeper page!) His endorsement of Obama has colored every accomplishment he ever had. Now, it's all about race. Those hard corps black "Sergeant Airborne's" at Ft. Benning whom I admired so much because it seemed that they had transcended race and constituted a pure meritocracy are now voting 79% for Obama - the only military demographic that is supporting him - how naive I was.

Powell is the consummate REMF. I think his career will be studied for generations by those who want to climb by political skill instead of by merit. I don't believe anyone in Washington learned to play the game of leaking and being the anonymous administration source better than Powell - ever.

I am reading Kenneth Timmerman's Shadow Warriors: The Untold Story of Traitors, Saboteurs, and the Party of Surrender and Timmerman's discussion of Powell as Bush's Secretary of State is absolutely damning.

Regards,

TS

[PhilDragoo]

A ping to the inconvenient truth about Colin Powell, REMF.

[LucyT]

Thanks, PhilDragoo.

Remember Lt. William Calley Jr. and My Lai?

“Colin Powell was in the Americal G-3 shop when My Lai went down. No way he didn’t know more than what he said he knew.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1808937/posts?page=11#11

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“There was a high level of frustration and anger. That is no excuse for what happened but I have never believed Calley acted alone.

I think he had verbal orders, which came from the battalion level or higher, to carry out what would amount to a reprisal against local civilians.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1808937/posts?page=8#8

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Here’s a post by WestCoastGal:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2109445/posts?page=463#463

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What about this:

Powell Wants More Muslims in U.S.
Associated Press ^ | 11-18-02 | AP writer

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/791638/posts#commentleases