American Hero, General Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama for President!

American Hero, General Colin Powell, one of the country's most respected Republicans, stunned both parties on Sunday by strongly endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, laying out a blistering, detailed critique of the modern GOP. Powell said the election of Obama would "electrify the world."

Today, on Meet the Press he said:
ENDORSING OBAMA: "We've got two individuals — either one of them could be a good president. But which is the president that we need now — which is the individual that serves the needs of the nation for the next period of time.. not just continue the policies we have been following in recent years. And I come to the conclusion to support Barack Obama because of his ability to inspire, because of the INCLUSIVE nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities — and you have to take that into account — as well as his substance — he has both style and substance, he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."
McCAIN´s JUDGEMENT & VP SELECTION: Powell said that he is "troubled" by the direction of the Republican Party, and said he began to doubt Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. "Not just small towns have values," he said, responding to one of Palin's signature lines. "She's a very distinguished woman, and she's to be admired," he said. "But at the same, now that we have had a chance to watch her for some seven weeks, I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president. And so that raised some question .. as to the judgment that Senator McCain made."
McCAIN & DIRTY POLITICS: General Powell also criticized McCain´s kitchen sink strategy of dirty politics, robo-calling, claims of socialist, muslim and his campaign for invoking the former domestic terrorist William Ayers. "Sen. McCain says Ayers is a washed-up old terrorist—then why does he keep talking about him?" Powell asked. "They're trying to connect Obama to some kind of terrorist feelings, and I think that's inappropriate," Powell said. "Now I understand what politics is all about — I know how you can go after one another. And that's good. But I think this goes too far. And I think it has made the McCain campaign look a little narrow. It's not what the American people are looking for. And I look at these kinds of approaches to the campaign, and they trouble me. And the party has moved even further to the right, and Governor Palin has indicated a further rightward shift." Powell said, "I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that Obama's a Muslim and might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America. I feel strongly about this particular point," Powell said. "We have got to stop polarizing ourselves in this way. And John McCain is as non-discriminatory as anyone I know. But I'm troubled about the fact that within the party, we have these kinds of expressions."
McCAIN & The ECONOMY: Powell said that as he watched McCain, the Republican “was a little unsure as to how to deal with the economic problems that we were having, and almost every day, there was a different approach to the problem, and that concerned me, sensing that he didn't have a complete grasp of the economic problems that we had."Powell said a big job of the new president will be “conveying a new image of American leadership, a new image of America’s role in the world. I think what the president has to do is to start using the power of the Oval Office and the power of his personality to convince the American people and to convince the world that America is solid, America is going to move forward … restoring a sense of purpose,” he said.
OBAMA - A TRANSFORMATIONAL FIGURE: "I think Barack Obama is a transformational figure," Powell said. "He is a new generation coming ... onto the world stage and on the American stage. And for that reason, I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama." Powell, once considered likely to be the nation's first African-American presidential nominee, said his decision was not about race. "If I had only had race in mind, I could have done this six, eight, 10 months ago. I really have been going back and forth between somebody I have the highest respect and regard for, John McCain and somebody I was getting to know, Barack Obama. And it was only in the last couple of months that I settled on this. I can't deny that it will be a historic event when an African-American becomes president. And should that happen, all Americans should be proud — not just African-American, but all Americans — that we have reached this point in our national history where such a thing could happen. It would also not only electrify the country, but electrify the world."
General Colin Powell, a four-star Army general, was national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan; chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, when George H.W. Bush was president; and was President George W. Bush’s first secretary of State.