Tit for tat, and black for black.

Well, that didn't take long. Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama is already being reduced by many on the right to a simple racial preference, not an endorsement based on genuine belief. Obama is black. Powell is black. What choice did he have? Or so the argument goes in its bluntest form. It's impossible to divine just how widespread such opinions may be, but we've already seen Rush Limbaugh, George Will and Pat Buchanan, three of the most well-known members of the conservative intelligentsia, assert that race was more than a minor factor. And if those three are willing to say it out loud, you can count on a larger majority who might only be brazen enough to speak it in private.

Rush Limbaugh wrote, “Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race. OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I’ll let you know what I come up with.” A few thoughts here. First, if one listens to the arguments made by Powell in his endorsement, there is nothing that would give any reasonable-minded person just cause to believe that he arrived at this endorsement with anything less than careful deliberation of countless factors.

Second, while there are some blacks who will vote for Obama principally because he's black, and while there are some whites who will vote for McCain principally because he's white, it's downright offensive to accuse someone of doing so when they expressly claim otherwise and when no evidence exists to the contrary. This is as absurd as saying people who vote for McCain are racist. Some people who vote for McCain are racist, but there are far far far more people voting for McCain because they think he's the better candidate. Let's not foolishly conjecture as to which are which by besmirching them all.

Third, if Powell's decision to endorse Obama was racially motivated, might one care to explain to me why he's comfortable calling himself a Republican when there is not a single black Republican currently serving in either the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives? One would think he'd have clued in by now that the GOP is not as racially diverse as the Democratic party. Might he genuinely support conservative ideals? No, of course not. Because if he did, it's utterly inconceivable how he could cast a vote for a "liberal" Democrat...all those many reasons he listed be damned.

It's human nature to wonder if race was a motivating factor in Powell's endorsement. It crossed my mind, and if you've read this far, there's a good chance it crossed yours, too. There's no shame in that. What there is shame in is asserting that it was racially motivated...choosing to ignore the many good reasons offered for the endorsement to fixate on one awful reason which was not. Powell is not, nor has he ever been, an elected official. He's not as constrained by party politics as those who are dependent on the votes of their constituents and the support of fellow lawmakers. The assertion that Powell, a retired four-star General, a former National Security Advisor, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and former Secretary of State, would offer his endorsement to Obama on the basis of race identification is, for lack of a better description, deplorable.