By FOXNews.com
Sources say former Secretary of State Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol told FOX News exclusively on Wednesday.
“He may well give a speech at the Democratic convention explaining his endorsement of Obama,” Kristol, a FOX News contributor, said, citing inside sources.
“This is not an absolute done deal, but these people are very confident that Powell will endorse Obama,” Kristol said, adding that he thinks Powell, a Republican, still has “a high respect” for John McCain, Obama’s Republican rival.
Powell immediately denied the report.
“I do not have time to waste on Bill Kristol’s musings,” Powell told ABC News. “I am not going to the convention. I have made this clear.”
Roll Call executive editor Mort Kondracke, also a FOX News contributor, said he personally has spoken with Powell, who denied the report and said he has made no endorsement decisions, according to Kondracke.
An endorsement by Powell could go a long way to attracting moderates and wayward Republicans to the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate.
Over the years, Powell himself has been touted as a potential presidential or vice presidential candidate. The former national security adviser served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. He was secretary of state for the younger President Bush.
His tenure is most notable for presenting to the U.N. Security Council evidence that Iraq was pursuing weapons of mass destruction. His presentation led to a resolution endorsing military action against that country, but he later described it as a “blot” on his record.
Powell has unofficially advised Obama and Republican candidate John McCain but had not endorsed anyone. A spokesman said in July that he was undecided.
In April, Powell praised Obama’s response to controversial remarks by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who had said the United States brought the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on itself by supporting terrorism and that the government created the AIDS virus to “destroy people of color.”
“I thought that Senator Obama handled the issue well,” said Powell, the nation’s first black secretary of state. “He didn’t abandon the minister that brought him closer to his faith, but at the same time he deplored the kinds of statements that the Reverend Wright had made.”
Obama later turned his back on Wright after the minister courted controversy again with additional comments in public.
Kristol said sources told him Powell will “quite possibly” speak at the Democratic convention on the same night as Obama’s vice-presidential selection and former President Bill Clinton.
“The Obama people are quietly trying to line up a pretty strong convention,” Kristol said. “I think the Obama campaign shouldn’t be underestimated. Obviously anyone would like to have Powell’s endorsement.”
Email This Post |
FORUM
