Powell

October 19th, 2008Blog0 comments

In my eyes, Gen. Powell redeemed his highly problematic statements at the United Nations at the beginning of the Iraq War with his recent endorsement of Barack Obama.

“I think he is a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming into the world–onto the world stage, onto the American stage, and for that reason I’ll be voting for Senator Barack Obama.”

To me, the best part of Powell’s endorsement was his story about Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, one of our American soldiers who died in Iraq and happened to be a Muslim. Powell makes a very strong point about how instead of denying that Obama is a Muslim, we should be asking ourselves, “Well what if he was? So what?”

The Republican party has a serious problem. By pandering too much to the right and one particular ideology, it is causing its base to shrink. And as America gets more diverse, the base will continue to shrink until it becomes a fringe party.

The GOP needs to be more inclusive than exclusive; the idea of economic conservatism is a good one. It’s shared by a lot of people across ethnic and religious lines. If the party is going to continue to survive, it needs to throw away its old identity and embrace what America is becoming. I think that concerns a lot of what General Powell is saying.

Like Chris Rock says, on some things I’m liberal, on other things I’m conservative. Very few people are one issue voters. The Republicans need to get with the program — throw the haters out, embrace people of color, and become a party for the 21st century.