Posted 12:15 PM by steve

It's a bit misleading to describe Colin Powell as a Republican, as his affiliation with the Republican party was not based on true love, but was rather a marriage of convenience*.

By declaring himself a Republican, Powell got Bush to name him to be Secretary of State, a position Powell's military background would have kept him from ever getting in a Democratic administration.

And the Republicans got themselves a trophy, someone to help them with their periodic outreach to black voters ("how could we be as racist as the Democrats claim, we appointed a black guy to be Secretary of State?").

And it never was a good fit, as Powell disagrees with just about everything the Republicans (used to) stand for. Powell chafed at having to keep playing the good soldier, the Republicans were upset at Powell's opposition to Bush policies.

So it comes as no big surprise to see that Colin Powell is endorsing Obama for President, a Presidential candidate who disagrees with everything Republicans (used to) stand for.. it's one black liberal endorsing another black liberal, something that ordinarily, being a 'dog bites man' story, wouldn't have gotten but a brief mention on an inside page.

So why is it big news? Because it allows the media to poke fun at McCain losing the endorsement of a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and it gives them another opportunity to advance Obama's candidacy by publicizing just how well Obama is drawing support from even Republicans (of course, never mentioning that Powell was a token Republican).

* Other marriages of convenience: Giuliani and Bloomberg in NY, as both are on the liberal side (Giuliani less so now, but definitely when he first ran) but knew their only chance of becoming mayor was to run as a Republican as they had no chance of winning the Democratic nomination, Schwarzenegger, and for the same reason, that he had no chance of becoming California governor if he had to run as a Democrat against the incumbent Gray Davis, and, on a local level, Carole Schwartz in DC, and again for the same reason.