Former Sec. of State on Setting A Great Example
Colin Powell Speaks At MLK Day Breakfast
Jan 24, 2009
The 19th annual Martin Luther King Jr. day breakfast in Minnesota that featured keynote speaker Colin Powell was held this year in Minneapolis with two thousand people in attendance at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Powell who spoke at the breakfast hosted by the General Mills foundation and the United Negro College Fund, recounted among many things how he felt when he found out that Sen. Barack Obama had won the U.S. presidency. While in Beijing, China for a speaking engagement, Powell said, "I'll never forget the words that came to me. And the words that I whispered in an empty room: My God, We did it. We did it."
Powell's Statements Hurt Sen. Mc Cain and Governor Palin's Chances
Powell's credentials as the nation's first African-American National Security Advisor, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State left him in a good position to enjoy the status of an influential American political figure know for his moderate and politically centrist views. Known also as a Republican by party, Powell was in a especially unique situation in terms of his endorsement of then presidential candidate Obama when he articulated on the NBC Sunday talk show program Meet The Press , "that both men, either John McCain or Barack Obama would make a good president, however, I have some concerns about the direction that the Republican party has taken, in recent years it has moved more to the right than I would like to see it." Powell went on to say, "during the last six or seven weeks of the campaign as really both have taken a final exam with respect to tis economic crisis we are in and coming out of the conventions. And I must say I have gotten a good measure of both, Mr. McCain seemed a little unsure as to how to deal with the economic issues. Everyday there seemed to be a different approach as to how to deal with economic problems and gave the sense that he did not have a complete grasp of the problems that we have. Also the selection of Alaskan Governor Palin was problematic for Powell as he said, "After having watched her now for some seven weeks I don't believe she is ready to be President of the United States."
Powell's Endorsement of Obama Crucial to his Victory
Further in the Meet The Press interview, Powell had some very good things to say about Obama when he commented, "I watched Mr. Obama during this same seven week period and he displayed a steadiness, an intellectual curiosity, a depth of knowledge and an approach to looking at problems like this, while picking a Vice Presidential candidate who was ready to be President on day one." Powell went on to describe Obama's way as displaying intellectual vigor and has a definitive way of doing business that would serve us well. "Mr. Obama's approach has been more inclusive and given us a broader reach into the needs and aspirations of our people, he is crossing lines, ethnic lines, racial lines, generational lines. He seems to be thinking that all villages have value, that all towns have values, not just small towns have values," Powell said. These comments seemed to speak to the more moderate people in the American electorate, especially those who are Republican. Powell's remarks are said to perhaps be the reason or at least had contributed greatly to Obama's victories in southern states like Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida where heavy concentrations of military personnel are located.
Honoring MLK and Obama
Back at the Martin Luther King Day breakfast, Powell was smiling a lot and musing about both MLk and the pending Obama presidency as he said, "What a tribute to our country, what a tribute to our system, what a tribute to the memory of the man we are honoring today, a man who said he wanted his children to be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. "Yes, Martin. By God, we did it."
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