Powell’s Endorsement of Obama: What it Means

A couple of days ago former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for president on Meet the Press. Very few – if any – could have predicted this kind of bold and crucially-timed political statement from the former Army General who served from 2001 to 2004 in the Bush Administration and was one of the more frequent frontmen for their criminal policies. Indeed, the shockwaves from it continue to emanate through both the McCain and Obama campaigns and through the media.

Political comentators on the right, such as Rush Limbaugh, George Will and Bill O’Reilly (formerly great admirers of Powell for his decorated military service and seemingly race-neutral politics), seemed to take particular exception with the endorsement. They and others issued statements soon after the show that the endorsement was all about race. 

When asked what impact the endorsement would have on the campaign, Will remarked,

“Some impact. And I think this adds to my calculation – this is very hard to measure – but it seems to me if we had the tools to measure we’d find that Barack Obama gets two votes because he’s black for every one he loses because he’s black because so much of this country is so eager, A) to feel good about itself by doing this, but more than that to put paid to the whole Al Sharpton/Jesse Jackson game of political rhetoric.”

Limbaugh added several hours later,

“Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race…okay, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I’ll let you know what I come up with.”

Of course if you know these two, it’s not so surprising to hear them talk like this. But what this episode illustrates on a larger scale is how openly and unabashedly racist people in this country still are. These two – especially Limbaugh – have a huge base of supporters, especially when you factor in that they operate in print and on the radio, two of the more outdated forms of media communication. If they really admired Powell apart from his (ill-advised) participation in the Reagan, Bush I and Bush II administrations, they would not have turned on him with such haste and petty disdain.

The fact is this: no matter how you feel about Powell, Obama or anyone else on either side of this campaign, the General gave a well-reasoned, articulate explanation for why he will be voting for Obama on November 4th. He does have a decorated resume of bipartisan service, he was a dedicated soldier, and he has never been a radical spokesperson for the left or for progressive racial politics. To cast as him as such is not only tasteless and stupid, but downright embarrassing.

What’s more is that Powell delivered his endorsement with a level of racial sensitivity and forward-thinkingness that, regrettably, we have not even seen from the Obama campaign, let alone McCain or any of his supporters in the media. He raised the elepant-in-the-room point about Obama being a Muslim: as Americans, he said, we should not stand for even a second for the kind of kneejerk racism that treats a Muslim presidential bid as unconscionable. For some inexplicable reason, this is the first time any public figure has gone on record not just to say, “Obama’s not a Muslim,” but to say, “So what if he is?” Good for Powell.

The point pertains not just to Muslims and not just to Obama, of course, but to the general bigotry that is still very active in our national politics. Unfortunately, the Republicans are not even the sole perpetrators of it; recall Hillary Clinton calling Obama a Muslim back in the Spring during her bid for the nomination. As it has been almost since this country’s birth, the problem is systemic.

Beyond helping Obama in the polls and ruffling the feathers of some of the more despicable individuals in the conservative media, I think the real and lasting impact of Powell’s endorsement (to help Will better answer his question) is to remind us of the subtle but real pitfalls that bigotry still poses, and that going forward, we will have to be especially wary of them. 

I wonder if it ever occurred to Will or Limbaugh that Obama’s skin color doesn’t figure much into our thinking: Powell and others of us are voting for him simply because he’s a better candidate for president than John McCain. Period.