When a black republican like General Colin Powell endorses a major liberal figure like Barack Obama, it is amazing to see racial vitriol stop at a lefty website like Daily Kos:
Powell didn't just decimate the McCain campaign rationale, however. Powell also offered up an endorsement of Barack Obama in the strongest possible terms, saying that Obama would be an "exceptional president" and that he had the capacity to be "transformational."
The amazing part of all this is that Powell still considers himself a Republican. While there will never be an excuse for his role in supporting the Iraq war, one thing does seem clear: Powell's endorsement today will be a boost for Barack Obama's campaign, and therefore a good thing for this country.
How sweet of Daily Kos. Back in April of 2004 Daily Kos's love did not extend at all for General Powell. In fact, it was downright nasty:
Uncle Tom Powell Stumps for Massah Bush
Yes suh! Yes suh! Right away suh!
Mr. Powell sir, you are a liar and an apologist for a crooked regime known as the George W. Bush administration.
Charges of "RINO", "limp-wristed republican", "Rockefeller republican", and "squish" are likely among the names to be thrown at Powell from the conservative base, but John McCain has been receiving that treatment from the conservative establishment too.
However, unlike liberal references towards black republicans, those names are not racially negative, and if Powell had endorsed McCain, one can bet Daily Kos and others like them would have shot out the same racial slurs like the ones from their 2004 webpage.
It should be noted, that former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, General Powell's son, is a McCain supporter. So, like many other black McCain supporters, unlike his dad, Michael Powell will likely be the continued target of racial slurs from the left.
