The next question down that line, seems to me equally obvious; Would the other issues Powell claims as his motivation, be enough to push him in this direction without the race issue being there?

First of all I believe Powell has always been on the liberal end of the GOP, and I always thought he pretty much left the party unofficially when he resigned as Secretary of State.

I do wonder if Powell would have endorsed a white democratic candidate or Hillary has she won. So while I am not so sure Powell wouldn't be voting democrat this go around, I do wonder if the endorsement in and of itself may not have been about race.

Who knowsQ

“With people who have a lot of gifts, it’s hard for people to identify with them,” the governor said. “Barack Obama is handsome. He’s incredibly bright. He’s incredibly well spoken, and he’s incredibly successful — not exactly the easiest guy in the world to identify with.”
[...]
“He is a little like Adlai Stevenson,” Rendell mused. “You ask him a question, and he gives you a six-minute answer. And the six-minute answer is smart as all get out. It’s intellectual. It’s well framed. It takes care of all the contingencies. But it’s a lousy soundbite.”

If only Obama had the legislative record that Stevenson had.

Aah, let us belittle Palin's experience instead.

[Obama's]undeniably charismatic, calm, and possessed of enormous political skills.

Yes, seemingly, and kind of hard to tell when the media has been avoiding a honest investigation in this last area.

That said, Powell's endorsement will likely only have effects within those already leaning Obama. At this point (two weeks out), the true undecideds probably shouldn't be voting, as their vote will be cast on criterion as stringent as is their favorite color the same as mine.

Republicans have been using the Patriotism card against Democrats in every presidential election in my lifetime. Nixon did it. Reagan did it. Bush 41 did it. Dole did it. Bush 43 did it.

I asked that you substantiate those accusations.

You never did that.

All you did was supply your personal interpretations of the current political discourse.

I do that all the time without any fact to back me up.

No one ever comes right out and says the other guy isn't patriotic. They do, however, strongly suggest that they don't love America or Jesus quite as much as they should.

Mr. Joyner,
You are dancing, what kind of music do you like?

I think that before we can define "racisim" down, we would first have to define "racisim," period.

(152,000 hits on Google, though. Google -- teh dictionery uf teh futture.)

Sure enough, the Republicans have done these things, and in doing so, they did not declare that anyone who does not is unpatriotic.

No one ever comes right out and says the other guy isn't patriotic. They do, however, strongly suggest that they don't love America or Jesus quite as much as they should.

Is it your contention that Republicans haven't used patriotism as a selling point going back to at least Nixon? Why all the flap about flag burning or the pledge of allegiance or family values? Why is Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" always being played

Mr. Joyner,
Sure enough, the Republicans have done these things, and in doing so, they did not declare that anyone who does not is unpatriotic.

You have read too many editions of the WaPo and NYT, lived in and around Washington too long, and can't find one quote from these people to support your allegations.

Is it your contention that Republicans haven't used patriotism as a selling point going back to at least Nixon? Why all the flap about flag burning or the pledge of allegiance or family values? Why is Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" always being played?

Josh Marshall, for example, writes,

TaDa..TaDa...TaDa..

This is nonsense.

Republicans have been using the Patriotism card against Democrats in every presidential election in my lifetime. Nixon did it. Reagan did it. Bush 41 did it. Dole did it. Bush 43 did it.

You have read too many editions of the WaPo and NYT, lived in and around Washington too long, and can't find one quote from these people to support your allegations.

So, dismissing Powell’s endorsement as being entirely about race is silly. To say that it’s one factor among many, though, is to state the obvious.

Agreed, James.

Yet...

The next question down that line, seems to me equally obvious; Would the other issues Powell claims as his motivation, be enough to push him in this direction without the race issue being there?

I wonder, very little.

I wonder more, what kind of position Powell would have in a posulated Obama administration, and if such promises didn't 'encourage him' to move toward this endorsement.

To say that it’s one factor among many, though, is to state the obvious.

But is that what's happening? If you're seeing a plethora of columns and blog posts out there, making nuanced observations about the role race played in Powell's endorsement, then by all means, link away.

So I think your point, on its own, is correct, but that's not really how it's playing out in the real world, which is what people are reacting to.