US analysts divided over Powell endorsing Obama

WASHINGTON: The endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama by the former Secretary of State and Republican Colin Powell has brought mixed reactions from Republicans and Democrats but analysts believe that it is still too early to weigh in the advantages of the backing.
        
"I think General Powell is wrong, respectfully. I believe he has come to this conclusion, you can see, in an agonized way, because he likes both men very much," said the former Mayor of New York and former Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on CNN's "Late Edition".
         
"I know he's a close friend of John McCain's. He has great respect for Barack Obama. Colin Powell's opinion is one I always respect. I have tremendous admiration for him. But even when you have tremendous admiration for someone, you can sometimes believe that their opinion is wrong and your opinion is right," he said.
   
While, hailing Powell's decision to endorse Barack Obama, Democratic Congressman from Alabama, Artur Davis, said: "It's very  significant because Colin Powell sounds like a lot of good, thoughtful people in his country who respect both Barack Obama and John McCain, who think a lot of John McCain's service, a lot of his abilities and a lot of his record in the Senate, but who think on the key questions facing the country today that Obama's  better."
 
Rubbishing the allegations of Powell's backing to Obama as a mark of racial solidarity, Davis said: "If General Powell were primarily concerned about racial solidarity, he frankly would never have chosen to be a Republican in a party where there is a very thin black presence. General Powell has a consistent history of doing what he thinks is right and  what he thinks is in his country's interest. He has always put his country first, as some would say."

"So I think General Powell's endorsement is an important event in this campaign because Colin Powell is one of the most venerated figures in American public life. He made some mistakes in judgment when he served as secretary of state, and he has owned up to a lot of those mistakes in judgment. I think this is a very helpful event and is part of the momentum that Senator Obama is gathering around him," the law maker added.
       
Endorsing fellow black-American and Democrat Barack Obama as the next US President, Powell had yesterday cited his "ability to inspire" the nation at a time of crisis for the decision.
       
"He (Obama) has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell, a Republican, had said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
       
"Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do
us well," Powell said ahead of the November 4 poll on Sunday after publicly endorsing Illinois Democrat.
 
Powell, a retired US general and a Republican, was once seen as a possible presidential candidate himself.
 
He had also Criticised McCain's approach towards American economic crisis and questioned the 71-year-old Republican presidential nominee John McCain's judgement in picking Sarah Palin as his running mate.