Short Take: Powell endorses Obama

Retired General Colin Powell endorsed Senator Obama today on Meet the Press.

This is not a huge surprise, perhaps, to anyone with a long enough memory to remember that Powell is only a recent Republican, choosing a party officially in the run up to the 2000 election after years as an official independent. Powell has always been opposed to the neoconservative strain of the Republican Party, which is one of the reasons he's no longer Secretary of State to George W. Bush.

Powell expressed concern about the conduct of McCain's campaign, McCain's erratic handling of the economic crisis, and his choice of Palin as reasons why he couldn't endorse McCain.