Powell's Endorsement Puts Spotlight on His Legacy

Powell indeed has some restoring to do -- and it's good to see him start!

Powell’s Endorsement Puts Spotlight on His Legacy

By ELISABETH BUMILLER

Published: October 19, 2008

www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/us/politics/20powell.html

WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s endorsement of Senator Barack Obama on Sunday represented his own transformative moment in a lifelong journey through war and politics.

It was not only an embrace of a presidential candidate from the other party, but also an effort to reshape a legacy that he himself considers tainted by his service under President Bush.

The endorsement, which came after months of conversations between Mr. Powell and Mr. Obama on a wide range of foreign and domestic policy issues, made clear Mr. Powell’s dismay at the Republican Party. He said he felt that the party had become too conservative under Mr. Bush, and that Senator John McCain’s campaign was not good for the country or its reputation around the world.

In that sense, his remarks further stirred the brewing debate about the nature of the post-Bush Republican Party.

“I have some concerns about the direction that the party has taken in recent years,” Mr. Powell told Tom Brokaw on “Meet the Press” on NBC as he made his endorsement of Mr. Obama. “It has moved more to the right than I would like to see it.” In recent weeks, Mr. Powell added, “the approach of the Republican Party and Mr. McCain has become narrower and narrower.”