Posted on 10/19/2008 3:06:32 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
As was speculated earlier this week, former Secretary of State Colin Powell did endorse Barack Obama for President of United States on Meet the Press this morning.
This action by Powell is being seen, predictably, as one of the final nails in the coffin of the candidacy of John McCain.
A man, who has in his own career transcended race, a man who spent much of his life in service of Republican Presidents, a military man who brings to the table many of the qualities Barack Obama lacks, has endorsed a candidate many white Americans still have questions about. What could be worse for John McCain?
The fact that a man like Colin Powell has no questions about Barack Obama leading this nation, the media elites say, contributes to the narrative that Barack Obama has closed the deal with the American people.
To the informed, enlightened center of the country, this will no doubt be how the endorsement is viewed. But this small sector of the American populace has already come to terms with Obama. Informed, elite opinion in America has already accepted Obama as a man they are comfortable with executing the duties of President of the United States.
However, this informed center, this malleable elite, will not make up the margin of victory for Obama in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. It will be another sector of the electorate who will have the final say.
The average white man or woman in America is no longer overtly or even covertly racist by any honest definition of that word. Sure, many whites feel more comfortable with those who look as they do but this is a quality hardly unique to the Caucasian population of America.
Most white people see themselves as very much open to dream of Martin Luther King, that we should all be judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character. Ability, qualifications, intelligence and ideology — all of these things most whites believe should trump racial considerations.
This fundamental embrace of King’s dream by white America, however, is exactly what could cause them to be alarmed by the endorsement of Barack Obama by Colin Powell. Marc Ambinder said this morning that “to the extent that there remain white voters who have inchoate worries about Obama’s race, it helps to have him associated with a man whose race they’ve already gotten over.”
Yes, Colin Powell has transcended race for much of his life. But transcendence is not something that one can necessarily transfer and, in trying, Colin Powell risks to damage his own reputation on that score.
Colin Powell is, as has been noted over and over, a lifelong Republican, one of Rockafeller stripe to be sure, but a Republican nonetheless. He is a friend of John McCain and admires him greatly. In August 2007, Powell, gave to John McCain the maximum contribution of $2,300.
Colin Powell, a lifelong Republican, wanted John McCain nominated by the GOP and the Republican Party, to the surprise of many conservatives, obliged. But when faced with the choice of the Republican he favored in primary and whom he admires and calls a friend and Barack Obama, Powell chose Barack Obama.
Rightly or wrongly, many white voters will no doubt conclude, despite Powell’s protestations, that at least one of the deciding factors in his decision was race. Many whites will assume that the prospect of the nation’s first black president had become too real for Powell to just stand back and say nothing.
If that is the conclusion that whites reach regarding the endorsement then what are they likely to conclude about the prospects of colorblindness on both sides of the racial divide in America?
Most whites in America have no problem voting for a man who happens to be black to lead our country. What many whites do have a problem with is electing an explicitly black leader who will bring with him to the White House a racial agenda.
It is the fear of, as I call it, “The Big Payback.” While whites may never verbalize it, they are afraid of electing a black leader who will attempt to right the wrongs their ancestors perpetrated but which they had nothing to do with.
Most whites in America have no sense of racial solidarity. They do not think of themselves as white Americans or any kind of hyphenated American, they see themselves as simply Americans. Whether their actions and words contain vestiges and evidence of racism and white privilege, I suppose is an open question. The fact remains, however, that they do not see it that way and never will.
What they are capable of seeing, however, is racial solidarity among blacks and they are not the biggest fans. Whites see themselves as accepting of all races and judging people on their own individual merits. What worries them most is that their shrugging off of racial identity and solidarity is a one way street.
Colin Powell is certainly not unique among Republican types in his support for Obama and his reasons for supporting Obama may be very much similar to those Republicans and conservatives. Personally, I assume that they are.
But the fact remains that Colin Powell is still a black man and seeing a man line up with the black candidate in opposition to the party he has called home makes whites ask questions like:
“Would Colin Powell have endorsed Hilary Clinton against his friend John McCain?”
“How about John Edwards?”
“Would Colin Powell have endorsed any white Democratic candidate in a race against John McCain?”
When Barack Obama is trying to close the deal with white, working class voters who reject racial solidarity by both blacks and whites, I’m not sure that the endorsement of one the of the most admired blacks in America is quite the boon many in the punditocracy think it is.
We need a counter punch endorsement! Stormin Norman, get out there for McCain/Palin!
We’ll see tomorrow what the tracking polls do.
Powell’s endorsement will not help Obama but it will hurt Powell today, tomorrow and until the day he dies. Powell has exposed himself once and for all for the lack of character and integrity he possesses. In Powell’s eye, skin color trumps values and beliefs.
Do you suppose Powell wants a job in the Obama Administration, should he win? Powell is smart enough to know that Obama is a lightweight who approves the murder of the unborn and recently born, and pals around with socialists and communists. As Rush Limbaugh asked how many lightweight white liberals has Powell endorsed?
I had forgotten Powell had supported McCain during the primaries. Hypocrite.
If the Mccain campaign were smart, they would say they understood Powell’s endorsement of Obama because Powell was a trailblazer himself in terms of breaking down racial barriers. However, his reasoning leaves a lot to be desired given Obama’s lack of experience and achievement.
Chuck Yeager is a McCain/Palin supporter. That’s one endorsement that means something to me. Yeager is a REAL American hero. IMHO.
Schwarzkopf endorsed McCain back in January. It'd be nice to see him on the campaign trail, though.
I completely agree wit the article. I see ZERO positive impact for Obama from Powell’s endorsement.
This analysis is spot on.
If, Me as a conservative Jew, would vote for a Jewish President who is willing to “redistribute wealth, bring in socialized medicine, cut Military, use abortion as a contraceptive, and sit down without precondition with terrorists” I would say to that Jew, “you are racist”
So I say to Powell and any other Black American, who are voting for Obama because of his Skin color, I say RACISTS...
He’s right.
Does Norman still live in Tampa? or did he move near Savannah?
While whites may never verbalize it, they are afraid of electing a black leader who will attempt to right the wrongs their ancestors perpetrated but which they had nothing to do with.
Good article. My very first question after the Powell endorsement, on this site, was indeed “Would Powell have endorsed a white Dem over his friend John McCain?” The answer would be no.
Ironically, biologically, Obama with maximum 50% African genes, probably has more African in him than Powell. But that may be part of Powell’s thinking. Both men may have felt they needed to “prove” something to both races all their lives.
It is true that whites often feel that they like King’s Dream more than their black brothers seem to, today. Very few whites show any public racism. I live in a mixed area, and when going into a building, any adult will hold the door for any other out of politeness. A white male youth, no matter how scruffy, will also hold a door for a fellow person. But very often, black male teens will deliberately NOT hold a door for me (white woman), and sometimes will add a scowl. OK, whatever, but they are the ONLY group to do this. Even the scruffiest, gangy-attired white, Hispanic, and Asian youth will make eye contact. Not always the case with the black youth. I tend to chalk it up to maybe less time spent with a parent dispensing etiquette, and figure these “cool” kids would let the door slam on an elderly black person as well, yet it’s still a noticeable difference.
So Powell goes with Obama...big deal.
McCain has the endorsement of four former secretaries of state, (Kissinger, Baker, Eagleburger and Haig.) And he has the endorsement of well over 200 retired Army generals and admirals.
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