Ken Adelman, an indisputable conservative and national security expert, is endorsing Obama, largely for the same reasons that Powell did. Adelman is white, though.

Why so, since my views align a lot more with McCain’s than with Obama’s? And since I truly dread the notion of a Democratic president, Democratic House, and hugely Democratic Senate?

 

Primarily for two reasons, those of temperament and of judgment.

 

When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I’ve concluded that that’s no way a president can act under pressure.

 

Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.

 

That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office—I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency. But that selection contradicted McCain’s main two, and best two, themes for his campaign—Country First, and experience counts. Neither can he credibly claim, post-Palin pick.

 

. If not, I will be even more startled by my vote than I am now.

 

New Yorker

 

 

I actually understand Adelman's reaction to Palin's selection. My guess is that if you surveyed 100, shall we call them, "Washington establishment insiders" or "WEIs" for short, 90 of them would agree with him. She undoubtedly does not have the experience and credentials that Adelman and many other WEI's possess, and thus they think she was a terrible choice and McCain demonstrated poor judgment. And make no bones about it, if she was running for President, I wouldn't give her 5 seconds of consideration for my vote, but she's not.

 

I know, I know, she's a heart beat away. We've discussed this before ad nauseum. To me its not a concern that it is for others. We've had very, very few presidents die in office and those were either a long time ago (before medical arts and science progressed to anything close to where it is today) or due to assassination. And if the extremely unlikely were to unhappen, I'm confident that the person she selected to be her VP (whom would have to be confirmed by Congress) would have the experience on military, intelligence and foreign policy that she surely does not.

 

Heck if that was to happen, would it be any different than what the Democratic ticket is currently offering? In other words, best case scenario, McCain doesn't die in office and we have a very experienced President with a VP that looks at life with a average Joe perspective. Worse case perspective, McCain dies in office, she becomes the President and an experienced VP gets selected and confirmed, which is no different than Obama and Biden the way I look at it.

 

Now if you really want to examine the heart beat away scenario, consider what happens if Obama dies in office. Biden becomes the President. In light of his record of gaffes and out there statements (like the one he recently made which I think is almost inviting an attack and is irresponsible as heck), that scares the bejeezus out of me. If Palin becomes the President, Congress can make sure an experienced VP gets selected (and for the Democrats, please remember that its highly likely that the Dems will control both houses during any term that Palin would be President. So unless you don't trust the members of your own party, you should have nothing to worry about). Whereas if Obama dies, we are stuck with Biden.

 

So in summary:

 

If you play the odds that McCain doesn't die, we have a very solid President and a VP that is not a Washington insider, but rather someone that probably thinks much more like you and me on most (not all) issues than the other 3. If however, he does die and Palin becomes VP, Democratic voters should have nothing to worry about because their party is going to control who is her VP.

 

If you play the odds that Obama doesn't die, you have a grossly inexperienced President with an experienced but somewhat shall I say less than prudent VP. If he does die, we have the less than prudent person become our President. Unless Congress selects someone that can muzzle Biden, we may be in for a rough ride.

 

And one final very sobering thought concerns this quote from Mr. Adelman: "I sure hope Obama is more open, centrist, sensible—dare I say, Clintonesque—than his liberal record indicates, than his cooperation with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid portends." Mr. Adelman might need to be reminded that there was a Republican controlled Congress when Clinton was the President which forced Clinton to be a centrist. He couldn't have pushed a liberal agenda even if he wanted to. Now contrast that with the highly likely scenario that the Dems are going to have at least 60 Senators and will continue to control the House. Adelman may hope that Obama is Clintonesque, but I'll bet the farm that Reid and Pelosi will demand a much more liberal agenda out of the White House and will have the juice to make it happen. That should be very scary to any voter except those that agree with Pelosi and Reid.

Edited October 21, 200817 yr by leatherneck

Powell is not a Republican he is a RINO (actually so is McCain--but McCain is Pro-life not Pro-abortion) Obama can have Powell in my opinion.

 

I agree-Colin Powell who?:lol:

I agree. According to some, Powell was well respected, even presidential material BEFORE he endorsed Obama. Now, "Obama can have him." He is useless and unworthy.

He can have him, as I said, he's pro-choice so I'm not much of a fan.

It is absolutely amazing to me that people can complain that the Obama Campaign is playing the race card but when a prominent black official decides to back his bid for the presidency they say it is because of race. As I've said before this election has really opened my eyes.

Opened your eyes to what?

He can have him, as I said, he's pro-choice so I'm not much of a fan.

 

 

Wait a second. In this post, you said you would vote for Colin Powell. Now, you don't have much use for him? :lol:

Wait a second. In this post, you said you would vote for Colin Powell. Now, you don't have much use for him? :lol:

Kinda proves the point, doesn't it?

The huffingtonpost is a rag.

 

What would that have to do with them quoting Powell?

 

I come to the conclusion that 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," Powell said. "He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."

 

Powell noted that McCain has been a good friend for 25 years, but expressed disappointment in the "over the top" negative tone of the GOP campaign, as well as in McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the vice presidential nominee.

 

"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," Powell said. "And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made."

 

He also harshly criticized some of McCain's campaign tactics, such as the robocall campaign linking Obama to former 1960s radical Bill Ayers.

 

"Mr. McCain says that he's a washed up terrorist, but then why do we keep talking about him? And why do we have the robocalls going on around the country trying to suggest that because of this very, very limited relationship that Senator Obama has had with Mr. Ayers, somehow Mr. Obama is tainted. What they're trying to connect him to is some kind of terrorist feelings. And I think that's inappropriate. 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."

 

Powell also spoke passionately against the insinuations by some Republicans that Obama is a Muslim.

 

"Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian," he said. "But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, 'He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists.' This is not the way we should be doing it in America."

Wait a second. In this post, you said you would vote for Colin Powell. Now, you don't have much use for him? :lol:

To be honest, I didn't know his stance on abortion until a friend recently told me, so, think what you want. You and Westsider can chuckle the night away together. :lol:

To be honest, I didn't know his stance on abortion until a friend recently told me, so, think what you want. You and Westsider can chuckle the night away together. :lol:

It's very chuckleable material, too ... :lol:

It's very chuckleable material, too ... :lol:

Simple pleasures for.... well, you get the idea. As I said, If I knew then about his position on abortion, my opinion would have been different. As it is now, I can't vote for anyone that's pro-choice. I know that doesn't mean much to you, but I couldn't live with my conscience of voting for a pro-choice candidate. I have this problem with snuffing out babies.

Simple pleasures for.... well, you get the idea. As I said, If I knew then about his position on abortion, my opinion would have been different. As it is now, I can't vote for anyone that's pro-choice. I know that doesn't mean much to you, but I couldn't live with my conscience of voting for a pro-choice candidate. I have this problem with snuffing out babies.

So you're saying that you expressed support for a candidate without knowing exactly what his position was on an issue that is obviously a deal-breaker for you.

 

Hmmm ....

So you're saying that you expressed support for a candidate without knowing exactly what his position was on an issue that is obviously a deal-breaker for you.

 

Hmmm ....

Was he running? Hmmm....

Was he running? Hmmm....

 

How would I know his stance if he wasn't running?

High quality posting, gentlemen. Keep up the excellent work. Between the ad hominem attacks and corny post endings, I don't know if I can keep up with this improved brand of posting!

High quality posting, gentlemen. Keep up the excellent work. Between the ad hominem attacks and corny post endings, I don't know if I can keep up with this improved brand of posting!

You bucking for Mod? :lol: