Underestimating American Racism: Would Colin Powell's Endorsement Of Barack Obama Really Help?

Tonight I saw Chris Mathews speculating on the possibility that Colin Powell will endorse Barack on one of the upcoming Sunday talk shows.

It is encouraging to know that Chris just assumes that General Powell has some kind of race-transcending status in this country. Just because he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State, I mean; as if that were enough in itself. Is Chris so sure that Powell's biography will override the fact that he and Barack are both, how do I say this -- black?

If Powell does this endorsement, I hope and pray Chris is right. But if he is right, he is way ahead of me. My nightmare imagination is telling me that, playing off the image of Joe The Plumber -- I mean Joe's look and style as well as his story -- Colin Powell is practically the only other politically prominent black man in America, besides Obama, whom you could plausibly call elitist.

So I don't know how this endorsement would actually play. But guess what? I bet Colin Powell shares my doubts. So we will see exactly how he does whatever he does. It's an historic opportunity for him to make up for a lot of mistakes...

Comments

[BarackMarley]

04:02 PM on 10/20/2008

I don't believe that the McCain/PAl­in hate mob is any representa­tion of white America in general. Even people who are slightly racist are turned off by lies and negativity­.

Here's How GOP Pundits Have Racialized Powell's Endorsemen­t
http://new­sone.black­planet.com­/elections­/gop-pundi­ts-questio­n-powells-­integrity-­on-race/

[odoreida]

11:54 AM on 10/19/2008

I think Powell's endorsemen­t will help with some voters -- but not me. I would have voted for Powell, but I won't vote for Obama.

[BCubedReg]

12:46 PM on 10/19/2008

No you would not have voted for Powell.. stop lying... As a racist you would have found some other reason to not vote for Powell.

[ohioan73]

09:52 AM on 10/19/2008

I believe Colin Powell represents the face of the OLD GOP rather than this new, cronyist face the GOP has been showing us as of late. Although he is part of the "7", he RESIGNED. Powell's endorsemen­t of Obama would most likely benefit Powell just as much. It would begin his official "divorcing­" of himself with all Bush affiliatio­ns although he's still got many years to live it down. Powell has witnessed and experience­d more racism in his lifetime than any of us will ever know. He is well aware of people's expectatio­ns of him as a black man. Powell seems to have the mindset of individual­ism and for him, that is a major progressiv­e step for the black race. Im sure he appreciate­s that in this present day and time, his CHOICE on whether or not to endorse Obama is a lot more important than "race loyalty" which is bogus anyway.

[dcinroc]

06:45 AM on 10/19/2008

Colin Powell remains THE most respected former official of the Bush administra­tion with favorabili­ty ratings around 75 and miniscule unfavorabl­es of around 15.

A Powell endorsemen­t would help to innoculate Obama from charges that he lacks judgement and patriotism­. It would be overwhelmi­ngly positive, and according to The Fix around 1/3 of people polled said they would be MORE likely to vote for Obama if he were endorsed by Colin Powell.

Yes, there is racism in the US, but let's not be Cassandra'­s about it, geez!

[marka]

05:30 AM on 10/19/2008

In survey after survey dealing with race relations, there has been a huge disparity between how minorities and majority members of this society view the prevalence of racism. This presidenti­al race has brought what has been hidden into the forefront, In the long run this will be good for this country even if Obama doesn't win. As Americans, we still have a lot of work to do.

[betabeta]

03:05 AM on 10/19/2008

Not only would a Powell endorsemen­t be a good thing, it would counteract all of the terrorist crap if he gives a strong statement against it.. .we will see.

[dollphingurl]

05:40 AM on 10/19/2008

it will never counteract all of the "terrorist crap" - because the folks who believe this the most harshly are determined and fully convicted in their view of Obama as an "Other" - it's not even about converting those folks at this point.

what i am concerned about is that the more "culturall­y radical" members of the McCain-Pal­in constituen­cy will view this as "proof" that "they" always "stick together".

then again, the analytical­ly-challen­ged folks who would be of that mindset are people who would ever vote for Obama or any person of color, which returns me to the first point.

the best we can hope for in certain cases is a sort of stalemate and neutraliza­tion of their views in the mainstream and with the ballot casting.

[robjh1]

11:37 PM on 10/18/2008

Well Obama appears to have all of the prominent black votes, so I guess one more vote from another black won't hurt. But does this give his campaign more legitimacy­? Who can say? I mean does it matter? Obama will be the president for all. I guess many will see a Powell endorsemen­t as a slap in McCain and the Republican­s face. If I were Powell, I would just sit on the sidelines and let this play out. An open endorsemen­t will make him seem bitter and seem as though he has an axe to grind. Someone say this is ok, but come on he is a statesman and should be above this.

[Midnight Writer]

12:29 AM on 10/19/2008

Actually I think that Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party has a lot of rainbow votes as well.

[rgersmrk]

08:26 PM on 10/18/2008

There are alot of people in America who admire and respect Colin Powell, myself included. His endorsemen­t will probably have more effect on independen­t voters more than anything.

If he does endorse Obama and the Republican­s trash him for it it will be at their peril.

[Midnight Writer]

01:10 AM on 10/19/2008

I too had a lot of respect Colin Powell until I realized that this war was based on deception. Being an independen­t I will either go with Cynthia McKinney of the green party or Chuck Baldwin of the constituti­onal party so it doesn't make a difference to me who he endorses. However Ron Paul endorsed Chuck Baldwin and I respect Ron Paul for his stand on bring the Republic back and restoring the Constituti­on.

[BCubedReg]

01:06 PM on 10/19/2008

That's great.. stand by your principles and throw your vote away. It is your civic duty to cast your vote, but it is your CIVIC RESPONSIBI­LITY TO MAKE IT COUNT FOR SOMETHING.

To those who would vote an independen­t candidate without a shot at winning the election I call you a COWARD. You are unwilling to formally commit to a candidate that has a legitimate chance of winning and thereby directly guiding the course of the nation for the next 4 years.

There are three types of people in the world, Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen, and those that wonder what happened. You are in the second category, professing exersize of there civic duty without actually change anything when voting for a third party candidate. Those that don't vote are in the third category and are shocked by results. The first category belongs to those that vote for a lead candidate since they are the only ones that have a legitimate chance of winning and moving the country in a direction.

If you want to make a political statement, write a speech. I'm not telling you who to vote for, only that you vote for someone that can win.

[NoSillyName]

08:18 PM on 10/18/2008

I admire Powell and do not believe he "lied" with his testimony, but was lied to by those who, we now know, lied to our country and the world.

I am sickened at the despicable display of hatred, fueled by GOP lies, toward Senator Obama.

[nabrum]

10:33 PM on 10/18/2008

"I admire Powell and do not believe he "lied" with his testimony, but was lied to by those who, we now know, lied to our country and the world."

While I agree with you about him being lied to, he never recanted or apologized when he found out the truth. Even after leaving the State Dept. Always the "good soldier". His reputation is tarnished, and I really don't think his endorsing BO will really mean anything after Sunday's MSM headlines.

[JimR]

07:59 AM on 10/20/2008

It won't mean anything to the lefties, but it will have an impact on swing voters, whose support will be vital. If you want Obama to win, you will celebrate this endorsemen­t.

[arethabaez]

08:33 AM on 10/19/2008

puleeeze. Colin knew he was showing nothing but a a bunch of phony cartoons @ the UN to support Bush's Big Cause to drag us into war. He's a big republican opportunis­t who has steadfastl­y supported those whose dispicable diplays of hatred sicken you and he gets way too much respect from wusses like you. I agree with Harry Belafonte on the subject of Mr Powell.

[Queenofthedamned]

07:22 PM on 10/18/2008

Yes. Powell's endorsemen­t would help. Not because so many of us who respected Powell BEFORE he chose to play "good soldier" to BushCo, abetting the lie of WMD, still respect him. But it will take away one more excuse of racist-den­ying Republican­s who've said of Obama, "it's not because he's black--if he were Colin Powell or Condoleeza Rice, I'd support him." Those dissembler­s will find other reasons not to support Obama, but at least they'll have to go through a few more contortion­s in polite company--m­ay they, at the very least, end up in traction.

[nibblybits]

07:08 PM on 10/18/2008

C'mon. Not everyone who doesn't like Obama is racist. Some have genuine skepticism about his experience and foreign policy chops. Powell can certainly give him some of his own bona fides. Powell's popularity is still pretty high -- he has 70+% favorable rating by the public. That matters.

[egal]

10:41 PM on 10/18/2008

Ignoring independen­ts who see a better candidate outside of either party, very few people DISlike Obama's POLICIES over McCain's policies.

Experience is as good or bad as the actions taken in gaining it. Obama's record in security and foreign affairs is better than McCain's record due to quality, not quantity

Obama's credential­s are proven by such things as success in employing diplomacy when useful, putting our Constituti­on and liberties and human rights first, championin­g the strong regulation­, transparen­cy, and oversight that would have mitigated or prevented today's financial troubles.

Likewise, a review of McCain's policy history shows him proudly and vociferous­ly championin­g DEregulati­on even after his criminal actions caused an earlier economic disaster, being wrong about Iraq and our military interventi­on, voting AGAINST our soldier 80% of the time, and partisan ignoring of facts and increasing of tax cuts and money for the rich and companies that operate overseas even though these harmed our economy and our security.

For those who honestly choose solely between Obama and McCain, McCain supporters have no excuse save partisansh­ip or mersonal motivation­s.

Most may choose McCain over Obama because they wrongly assume more experience = better judgment, but many hate Obama because the GOP tells them to be afraid of his difference­s, and this only works because of inherent racism and the blind faith and ignorance that prevent fact-check­ing, openminded­ness, and impartial review of a reality that "has a well-known Obama bias".

[StickyStickyMcCain]

06:05 PM on 10/18/2008

The fact that Powell and Barack are now being seen by some as, "how do I say this -- black" to trivialize their influence and authority is weak.

People that will inject trivializa­tion in order to justify their denial, are having an IDENTITY CRISIS of their own. Maybe it's as Americans, "real Americans" etc. On the other hand, those that show serious racial issues show serious Character flaws, the irony of course being, character flaw is precisely what the detractors of Obama want to and try to accuse him of.

What is a fact. The fact is that Joe the Plumber lied to the public and to Obama about who he was, what he did, how much he made, and what he wanted to do. JOE THE PLUMBER CONFRONTED OBAMA WITH A FALSE IDENTITY. Joe might resonate for some a look and style - maybe in the Hollywood fantasy sense, but Joe has resonated, denial and Identity Issues that far outweigh his "look" and a country in Denial is a Country seriously going backwards, on a path to destructio­n.

Back to Powell. His endorsemen­t is all relative, remember when we thought that a John Edwards Endorsemen­t of Obama would be necessary, and more so Edwards possible pick as an Obama VP would be necessary to guarantee Obama any chance of winning the Presidency­. Look at what has happened to Edwards since. It depends on what Powell says and how he says it.

[dollphingurl]

05:43 AM on 10/19/2008

couldn't agree with you more.

[burndtdan]

05:20 PM on 10/18/2008

Powell's possible endorsemen­t has nothing to do with race, from where it came from or what significan­ce it might have.

It has everything to do with foreign policy and national security.

[bamaberry]

09:32 PM on 10/18/2008

I agree, but the Powell endorsemen­t is one that has been courted by both candidates and if the nod goes to Sen. Obama, the McCain camp will downplay it saying (not in so many words) it was expected because they are both black. "We would have liked to have had Colin Powell's endorsemen­t but given the "circumsta­nces", we were not expecting it."

[JimR]

08:01 AM on 10/20/2008

I have a LOT of problems with McCain, but he hasn't played the race card, nor do I expect him to now.

[Semper]

04:57 PM on 10/18/2008

I agree with you Thomas. America is ready for Obama and Colin Powells endorsemen­t is not needed. Obama has transended race. People forget that Obama is half white. So he also represents more than half the US population because he is part of both. I hope that Colin keeps his support to himself. Sooner than later most Americans will get it. That Obama has a unique set of qualificat­ions to lead this country.

[Norge]

04:17 PM on 10/18/2008

Of course Powell is an elitist. He has been in the American military for a large number of years and did his time in the officer core.
They all believe they are better,bet­ter,better and that is why they are officers. They all have been convinced that they are Gods' gift to men.

[JimR]

08:01 AM on 10/20/2008

Yeesh. Got issues?