Part I: The General's Blessing
Considering that John McCain has long touted his own foreign policy experience, which, he claims, makes him imminently more qualified than Barack Obama to be president, it is HUGE news that Colin Powell, a former Dubya Secretary of State; a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; a former National Security Adviser for Poppa Bush has said he will vote for Barack Obama!
In his interview with Tom Brokaw this morning on Meet The Press, in which the man whom John McCain once described as "a man who I admire as much as any man in the world," General Colin Powell, endorsed McCain's Democratic opponent, Senator Barack Obama. Powell, in explaining why he opted for Barack Obama over John McCain for president, said he was concerned that his party was heading too far right for his liking & that he thought that Sarah Palin was not "ready to be President of the
It's telling, too, that General Powell had brought up the fact that some McCain supporters had noted that Obama is a Muslim, which, of course, Powell noted is a lie. General Powell then asked why it would matter if he was a Muslim, and proceeded to tell Tom Brokaw about a picture he saw of a mother grieving the loss of her 20-year-old son who had apparently died in the Iraq War. Powell explained poignantly how she was obviously mourning at her son's grave site & explained that his headstone didn't have a Christian cross on it or the Star of David, but a Cresent & Star, indicating that this young American man, born in
Hearing this mother's story reminded me of the line from a letter written by President Lincoln to Lydia Bixby, the mother of 5 sons, all of whom had died in the Civil War:
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.
I have no doubt that this mother of an American solider (who happened to be Muslim) has sacrificed & has been unspeakably hurt no less than any Christian or Jewish mother who has given the most precious gift she has--her own flesh & blood--for her country.
Powell reiterated what Obama himself has always said: Barack Obama is (and always has been) a Christian, but Powell then asked why being a Muslim would matter anyway? Powell spoke of this intentional distortion by some of the McCain-iacs for the sake of the few votes that they hope that such lies would garner & of McCain's hypocrisy in calling Bill Ayers (he of Weatherman infamy) "a washed-up terrorist" in whom he claims he does not have any interest, but--in the same breath--belying his true motivation to shackle Barack Obama to Ayers' ankle by saying the relationship between the two needed to be investigated more closely. The interview is about 7 minutes long. It's really worth a view.
Part II: (Not Just) Pennies From Heaven
In separate, but just as exciting, news, the Obama Campaign reports that in September the Senator from Illinois added over 600,000 new donors, and raised an astonishing $150 MILLION.
Think about that!
Because McCain opted for government financing of his campaign (not counting other money raised for his campaign by the RNC & other independent groups, a.k.a. 527's), he can spend no more than $84 million in September & October. In ONE month, Obama raised very nearly TWICE that! That is simply astonishing! According to the MSNBC article, Obama now has received contributions from 3.1 million people. These are not huge "special interest" contributors either; these are individuals who, in September, gave an average of $86 each. It was also reported that the Democratic National Committee raised nearly $50 million in September (which they can use to help Obama & other Democrats running for office...of course, it doesn't look like Obama will need to lean too heavily on the national party, though, which, of course, frees up more money for other Democrats running for office across the country...which is ANOTHER good thing!).
Part III: You Gotta Have Friends...
Editor & Publisher is a New York-based monthly journal of the
E&P now reports that Barack Obama has nearly FOUR TIMES as many newspaper endorsements than does John McCain. By way of comparison, John Kerry edged George Bush in newspaper endorsements in 2004 by 213 to 205.
In the list below (which is obviously not totally comprehensive, but it a snapshot of the current endorsements that have been made as of today), newspapers which endorsed George Bush in 2004, but who are endorsing Barack Obama this year (14 of the 85 listed) are marked with an asterisk (as an aside, I am not sure that all the papers who supported Bush in 2004, but who are now endorsing Obama are noted here, as E&P did not note some papers with information on their 2004 endorsements). Interestingly enough, none of the newspapers who are endorsing John McCain this year had endorsed John Kerry in 2004.
This list is based on information provided by Editor & Publisher's website as of about
Some of the newspapers Endorsing Barack Obama (the 85 listed here have a readership of about 10 million)
Akron Beacon-Journal (OH)
Argus, The (Fremont, CA)
Arkansas Times (AR)
Asheville Citizen-Times (NC)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Austin American-Statesman (TX)*
Bangor Daily News (ME)
Blade, The (Toledo, OH)
Boston Globe, The (MA)
Brunswick Times-Record (ME)
Burlington Free Press (VT)
Capital Times, The (Madison, WI)
Charleston Gazette, The (WV)
Chattanooga Times (TN)
Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Chicago Tribune (IL)*
Columbian, The (WA)*
Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN)
Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA)
Cortez Journal (CO)
Daily News, The (NY)*
Daily Review (Hayward, CA)
Dayton Daily News (OH)
Denver Post, The (CO)*
Detroit Free Press (MI)
Durango Herald, The (CO)
El Diario (NY)
Eugene Register-Guard (OR)
Express-Times, The (Easton, PA)*
Falls Church News-Press (VA)
Fresno Bee, The (CA)
Gunnison Country Times (CO)
Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Houston Chronicle (TX)*
Huntington Herald-Dispatch (WV)
Idaho Statesman (ID)
Kansas City Star (MO)
La Opinion (Los Angeles, CA)
Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Las Cruces Sun-News (NM)*
Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Los Angeles Times (CA)
Lufkin Daily News, The (TN)
Mail Tribune (Medford, OR)
Miami Herald (FL)
Mid-Columbia Tri-City Herald (WA)
Modesto Bee. The (CA)
Monterey County Herald, The (CA)
Muskegon Chronicle (MI)
Naples Daily-News (FL)*
Nashua Telegraph (NH)
News & Observer (NC)
Oakland Tribune (CA)
Oregonian of Portland, The (OR)
Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Ouray County Plaindealer (CO)
Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
Record, The (Stockton, CA)
Repository, The (Canton, OH)*
Rockford Register (IL)
Sacramento Bee (CA)*
Salt Lake Tribune, The (UT)*
San Bernardino Sun (CA)*
San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
San Jose Mercury News (CA)
San Mateo County Times (CA)
Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Santa Fe New Mexican (NM)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Seattle Times, The (WA)
Southwest News-Herald (IL)
Springfield News-Sun (OH)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Standard-Times, The (New Bedford, MA)
Storm Lake Times, The (IA)
Tennessean, The (Nashville, TN)
Tri-Valley Herald (CA)*
Tuscaloosa News (AL)
Washington Post, The (DC)
Wilmington Star-News (NC)
Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI)*
Yakima Herald-Republic (WA)*
Yamhill Valley News-Register (OR)
Some of the newspapers Endorsing John McCain (the 22 listed here have a readership of about 2.5 million)
Amarillo Globe-News (TX)
Bakersfield Californian (CA)
Baltimore Examiner, The
Boston Herald (MA)
Courier, The (Findlay, OH)
Daily Sentinel, The (Grand Junction, CO)
Daily Press of Hampton Roads Virginia, The (VA)
Dallas Morning News (TX)
Foster’s Daily Democrat (NH)
Las Vegas Review (NV)
Mountain Valley News (Cedaredge, CO)
Napa Valley Register (CA)
New York Post (NY)
Pueblo Chieftain, The (CO)
San Francisco Examiner, The (CA)
San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Sun, The (Lowell, MA)
Tampa Tribune (FL)
Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Washington DC Examiner, The (DC)
Wheeling News-Register (WV)
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