Well 2 weeks until the election. My last post ripped McCain's campaign a bit, and I must say it was good to hear him try to somewhat fix that. However, today two people that I'm very impressed with have endorsed Obama. The first is Colin Powell. Powell somewhat disappointed me during the lead up to the war. It's hard to know what he did or did not know, and whether he is loyal to fault. However, I still see him as a good and honest man who does what he feels is best for the country. I would have voted for him had he run in 2000. Today he said:
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"I strongly believe that at this point in America's history we need a president that will not just continue — even with a new face and with some changes and with some maverick aspects — will not just continue basically the policies that we have been following in recent years.... I think he is a transformational figure, he is a new generation coming onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I'll be voting for Sen. Barack Obama..... He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president." - Colin Powell Oct 19, 2008
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The second endorsement comes off a lesser known figure named Fareed Zakaria. He is a foreign affairs and global policy journalist. He has an amazing knowledge and comprehension about the world. I've added his sentiments below. They very much reflect my own.
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"I think we have two good candidates. Both are serious people with an obvious commitment to the United States. Both are knowledgeable and substantive. Both talk about reaching across party lines to solve the country's problems.
But I think one is distinctly better for our times.
As I've watched John McCain discuss the current economic crisis, I couldn't help but think that he was really out of his element. His response to questions about the crisis and the rescue package tended to all be about cutting taxes, keeping government small, ending earmark spending.
This is a recitation of 30-year-old Republican orthodoxy and feels irrelevant to the problems we face today.
To get a sense of how divorced from reality McCain is on economics, consider this. He is still promising to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term, while offering large new tax cuts. In reality, the deficit is likely to be $1 trillion. Balancing it would require not good government policies, but magic.
On foreign policy, McCain is a relentless warrior. He wants to fight in Iraq, openly threatens to bomb Iran, is skeptical of the Bush administration's diplomacy with North Korea. He wants to kick Russia out of the G-8, humiliate China by keeping it also out of that body. He sees a world in which a league of democracies will tussle with an alliance of autocracies.
It's a Cold War strategy for a post-Cold War world.
By contrast, Barack Obama has been calm, sensible and intelligent on both economics and foreign policy. His proposals to respond to the financial crisis have been careful, measured and attuned to the moment we're in. Some of them have been adopted by the Bush administration already.
He wants limited tax cuts for the middle class, but also major new investments in infrastructure and alternate energy.
On foreign policy, he argues for greater international cooperation and the aggressive use of diplomacy. He sees a world in which America doesn't have to fight with everyone, and should instead work with other countries to solve the common problems we all face.
I repeat, these are two good men, but with two very different views of the world.
John McCain represents the best of America's past, and Barack Obama the hope of the future -- the hope of a country that can make big changes and live out one of its greatest promises, of equal opportunities for all Americans, of every caste, creed and color.
And America has always been a country that looks forward." - Fareed Zakaria Oct 19, 2008
full text @ http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0810/19/fzgps.01.html
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