Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that he’s not ready to endorse President Barack Obama’s reelection, as he’s also considering Mitt Romney, a “good man” he’s known for years.
“I don’t want to throw my weight behind somebody,” Powell, who endorsed Obama in 2008, said on NBC’s “Today Show.” “I feel as I private citizen I ought to listen to what the president says and what the president’s been doing. But I also have to listen to what the other fellow says. I’ve known Mitt Romney for many years, good man.”
Powell said he “owe[s]” the Republican Party some consideration.
The former Bush administration official said that Obama had some substantial accomplishments, but that he wished the president had closed Guantanamo as promised.
“I think he has been [transformational]. Not completely. There are some things that he has done I wish he had not done, for example, leave Guantanamo open. I would have closed that rapidly. He tried, he was stopped by Congress,” said Powell. “He stabilized the financial system he brought about stability in the economy. He fixed the auto industry.”
Despite these achievements, however, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff still declined to endorse the president.
“It’s not just a matter of whether you support Obama or Romney, it’s who they have coming in with them,” Powell said.
As for Afghanistan, Powell said upon reflection that “it was worth the sacrifice to give the Afghan people a chance at free government” but that “we have to draw the line at some point,” pointing towards the full withdrawal of American and NATO forces in 2014.
The retired four-star general was on NBC promoting his new book, “It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership.”
(Source: Politico)
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5 Responses
Just as we have seen in Israel SO MANY TIMES, – being something big in the army does NOT necessarily mean one has any national leadership ability.
Powell was great in the Gulf War but backed obama in ’08, and it seems that his doubts about him now are because obama is not sufficiently to the left for him.
I wonder why his word or opinion is worth anything
Is he not the fellow who spoke at the UN complete with drawings explaining how Iraq has weapons of mass destruction?
Do we live in a time of blindness?
This is like Chelm nobody remembers or thinks for themselves,,,Looking to follow the so caled gedolim or experts
Wake Up see the truth
He pulled the same stunt last time. He will endorse the candidate he thinks will win.
He will support Obama and not because he thinks Obama will CHV win, but because Obama is black and he is supporting a bruthuh.
Colin will do what he feels like, concerning endorsing a candidate. In the end he will endorse Obama based solely on race. But he’ll do it when he’s in the mood or when he wakes up on the right side of the bed one morning. Basically, he is not endorsing anyone based upon values.