Schwartzkopf was the military genius who got jobbed on the issue of helicopters.

Colin is a politician, as you have to be at that level. It is a loss, but if McCain had been a clear winner, you would have seen Colin declare for McCain. Because it's vogue, I wouldn't be surprised to see him declare himself a Democrat as well.

That is hysterical, powell waited for Palin to implode before making his announcement? LOL

Powell is just pandering to get himself back in the limelight, something to make himself relevant again.

Congrats powell, you made you commitment, you now have a seat at the table to continue making $$$ off your public service.

Then why no endorsement when Palin was all the rage? If he believes as you say, then that would have had some impact, undercutting the momentum McCain got from Palin. He could have finally taken on those social conservatives. This thing could have been over back then and that $150 million Obama got last month could have been better spent simulating the economy.

Probably because he wanted to see what she was really like, given that few knew anything about her.

It seems he's burned every bridge imaginable to the GOP, but I'd be surprised if he became a full Dem. At heart, I think Powell is really an independent centrist.

Like I said, he was clearly holding his cards til the very end.

As far as Palin goes, when she was "all the rage" it wasn't yet clear just how woefully unprepared she was. If you believe Powell (and it's hard to take anything straight when it's coming from a politician), he wasn't concerned only because she represents the aspect of the party that he finds most reprehensible. He was concerned because of that and her spectacular implosion over the last month, as well as what those together imply about McCain's judgment and capacity for decision making.

But the truth is, Powell has been riding the fence for a year now. As Y pointed out months ago, Powell donated the maximum to McCain's campaign. At the same time, he was serving as an advisor to Obama. Powell clearly wanted to bet on the winning horse. He held out and only now is he placing all his money on Obama just as the windows are closing. Or more accurately, just as Obama is coming around the final turn ahead by several lengths with McCain fading fast.

I'm not trying to suggest Powell has done anything bold or daring here. It's pretty clearly rather the opposite. But what is being much overlooked in the publicity is the extent to which the endorsement of Obama really is consistent with Powell's record.

Not being familiar with Powell's public posture, you've made a case that he's consistent. What I don't know is to what extent he's been inconsistent with those pronouncements. You probably know better.

I doubt it. I don't even know what that post means.

My bad.

You've made a persuasive showing that Powell choosing Obama is being consistent with Powell's public policy pronouncements.

I'm not familiar enough with Powell's public statements to know if Powell has been consistent in his policy pronouncements. That's all I was saying. Powell seems a bit all over the place trying to cover all the bases, but perhaps I misread him.

I knew what you meant. To me, it just didn't make sense as a response to what I posted. If I suggest that Powell's endorsement is consistent with his history, then it seems fair to infer that I believe there's a pattern well enough established that one could determine whether his endorsement follows.