Moderate Republicans Breaking For Obama

Colin Powell this morning on Meet The Press is just the latest in a slew of moderate Conservatives and Republicans who have bucked their party in favor of Barack Obama. While Powell's endorsement is probably one of the most compelling, and in his critique of Conservative antipathy towards Muslims, emotionally compelling, he is not alone.



Newspapers all across the country who had endorsed George W. Bush in 2004 have begun coming out for the first term Senator from Illinois.

One of the more prominent was the Chicago Tribune, which hadn't endorsed a Democrat since its inception in the 1850s, but in addition the Houston Chronicle for the first time since 1964, the LA Times which hasn't endorsed a Presidential candidate since '72, The Denver Post, Salt Lake Tribune, and Detroit Free Press all endorsed Bush in 2004, and are now backing Obama.

Conservatives always complain that newspapers and the media are predisposed towards liberal Democrats, but in many newspapers this is factually untrue and in 2004 the candidates were nearly even in terms of editorial endorsements, with a slight edge toward John Kerry.

In 2008, so far 17 major papers who endorsed Bush in 2004 have gone with Obama in 2008, many of them citing Sarah Palin as one of the key reasons. His pick of her absolutely destroyed his credibility with the centrist Conservative press which viewed McCain as a principled and "maverick" leader. Instead of Country First, he put ambition first, and it was perfectly apparent to anyone who cared to see.

Of course, McCain can trot out all the traditional Republicans who still support him, as he did when he cited the four former GOP Secretaries of State who have endorsed him, but the exceptions are what matter. Having Colin Powell endorse Barack Obama despite the fact that he is a lifelong Republican who donated to McCain just last year, shows how far McCain has slid in the eyes of those who actually do put Country First.

As cross party endorsement after cross party endorsement shows, Obama has shown to have the intellect and temperament necessary to rule this country. Yes, McCain has served with some level of distinction for most of his life, but the Presidency is not an atta-boy for good deeds in the past. He's failed in the leadership tests of this campaign, he's failed to distinguish himself from a broken Republican party, and on November 4th, he'll fail to earn the faith and trust of the American people to lead them into the next four years.

Update:

I should also mention that I saw "W" this Friday, and probably the most sympathetic figure in the movie was Colin Powell. Granted, its a fictional take on what happened, though based in reality, but anyone who sees the movie can't help but leave more sympathetic to Powell who got steam rolled by the Neo-Cons who pushed for war with Iraq.