Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has now officially endorsed Barack Obama for President, citing as reasons Obama's steadiness, readiness, intellect, and his ability to create an inclusive campaign that reaches across class and race lines.  Powell stated that he was not impressed by McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate and by his divisive campaign ads.

This is an enormously powerful endorsement as there are few former statesmen in our recent past with as much gravitas as Powell.  In his interview with Tom Brokaw, he also decried the smear campaign against Obama that tried to label him as a Muslim, emphasizing that that type of tactic has a troubling, polarizing effect on the American discourse.

In leading up to his endorsement, Powell said, "Which is the President we need now?  Which is the President America needs today?", followed by "Because he has met the standard of being an exceptional president...a transformational candidate...I will be voting for Barack Obama."  

He then added, "I am fully confident that [Barack Obama] will be able to take on these challenges on January 21st."

by Purple Rose of Sharon 

Colin Powell Discusses His Endorsement of Barack Obama

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Democrat Barack Obama turned out enormous crowds at his two stops in battleground Missouri on Saturday in what campaign aides said was a strategy of using his ability to command huge crowds as a way to build excitement heading into the final two weeks of the presidential campaign.

An estimated 100,000 people showed up in St. Louis Saturday morning to hear Obama speak at the Gateway Arch - the largest crowd ever to hear Obama in the United States.

Saturday evening, a crowd estimated at more than 75,000 thronged the Liberty Memorial near downtown Kansas City for an Obama rally.

With just 17 days to go before the election, campaign aides said they hope to turn out comparable crowds in other battleground states.

"This is the home stretch and our primary goal is to capture the excitement and energy that's surrounded this race," said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki. To turn out large crowds, the campaign is choosing outdoor venues with virtually unlimited capacity.

Good weather - like Saturday's in Missouri - helps. Meanwhile, volunteers in dozens of Obama field offices in each of the battleground states are tapping phone and email lists to urge his supporters to turn out for the weekend rallies.

Republican John McCain also campaigned in two hotly contested states - North Carolina and Virginia - where the crowds were smaller, but the rhetoric was heated.

McCain used words like "welfare" and "socialism" to describe Obama's plans to raise taxes on businesses and Americans earning more than $250,000 and redistribute that in the form of cuts and credits to 95 percent of working families.

"Since you can't reduce taxes on those who pay zero, the government will write them all checks called a tax credit," McCain told a crowd estimated at 7,000 people, in Concord, N.C., criticizing Obama's plan. "And the Treasury will cover those checks by taxing other people."

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