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AN OBAMACON OF NOTE.
Ken Duberstein, a GOP lobbyist who was a major player and the final chief of staff during the Reagan administration, just announced that he's going to vote for Barack Obama, in part because Colin Powell's endorsement of the Democratic nominee was a "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval." Duberstein, whose Reagan connection ought to prevent any questions of his conservative credentials, was known to be close to McCain and supported him during his 2000 run. Bossman Mark Schmitt flags this Newsweek article from that election, and in particular this paragraph dealing with Duberstein's role in the campaign and his work mediating Powell/McCain tension:
About two years ago McCain began talking to Ken Duberstein, Reagan's last White House chief of staff and a close friend of Gen. Colin Powell's. McCain wanted to know: was Powell thinking of running? Left unstated was the reality that there wasn't room for two American heroes in the presidential race. Duberstein assured McCain that Powell would stay out of the campaign, and the two men began talking about "upping McCain's profile," says Duberstein. McCain, who had a book coming out about his own military career, had watched with fascination as Powell ran a book tour in 1995 that resembled a coronation parade. "How did Colin do it?" McCain wanted to know. The senator also quizzed Duberstein about President Reagan. How had the Gipper won over so many Democrats as well as Republicans? Duberstein offered contacts (his corporate clients include Goldman Sachs and General Motors) as well as sage advice. He began to quietly expose McCain to corporate bigwigs (and potential campaign donors), hosting a breakfast for 25 business leaders with Henry Kissinger in New York that December.
That's gotta hurt.
-- Tim Fernholz
COMMENTS (2)
There's some interesting background to this endorsement.
Duberstein has been a "political adviser" to former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, according to syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who says Duberstein was a source for David Corn's and Michael Isikoff's book about the Valerie Plame affair in which Armitage was found to be the one who leaked Plame's CIA status to Novak. [1]
In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria to be aired November 2, 2008, Duberstein announced his support of Democratic candidate Barack Obama for president.[2] This came as no surprise given Duberstein's close personal relationship with Colin Powell, another Republican who was distrusted by conservatives and had endorsed Obama 2 weeks earlier
Apparently it has little to do with conservative credentials. That bunch knows it won't have much pull with a GOP administration, given how they sat on information about Armitage and Plame while Libby and others twisted in the wind.
It's more of a suck up than an endorsement.
Posted by: Bilby | October 31, 2008 5:22 PM
Instead of listening to the calm points Powell made in detail about why he is endorsing Obama, the hurt Republicans and Conservatives began hurling invective at him, calling him a "democrat" and denigrating him. On a more flippant note, there is some kind of allusion to rats fleeing a sinking ship.
Posted by: OCPatriot | November 1, 2008 5:47 PM