What a well respected man.

He should do wonders for the moderates and the fence sitters.

Its a surprise in and of itself that there are still undecided voters out there but Powell should bring many of them home to the Obama camp.

Our American tax dollars trained this man to be a warrior but it seems that the way of doing business in Washington and the Pentagon has yurned him into nothing but a beaurocrat.I just wish he would take a tough ass position. He doesn't say enough bad stuff about the enemy-McCain.Real warriors take a position and defend it not the enemy. Sounded like he realy would support McCain if it wasn't for the far right policy makers in Mccains monetary corner. What will suprise everyone about the strategy of "the maverick", he'll drop the far right as soon as he gets elected. He has only done this cause it was the only way to possibly get the vote for a republican. McCain is not in favor of bigotry. He has for many years had his own way of working with the other side of the isle. I don't see anhy of that in Obama's short period of time he spent in the senate building conducting cross the isle politics. Just look at his voting record. He votes with the party 98.9% of the time.It is geting interesting. How about the referee's forearm on South Carolina"s ,Garcia in the L.S.U. Carolina game. Looked pretty much like a hit to me, sign him up Spurier.

Anonymous,

Are you suggesting McCain is lying and that he is planning to change his position after elected? That's not much of an endorsement.

Voting with or or against any party is not either right or wrong. It is a matter of making good decisions. Given the Republican party's extreme views lately, I would expect anyone using good judgment to vote heavily with the Democrats the last few years. 98% sounds about right. I'm sure if Republicans say something worthwhile, Obama will consider siding with them. One of the main reasons that I'm voting for him is his ability to put logic over partisanship.

Well, now I know you watch football. Do you dare reveal your full identity?

No I don't think McCaine is lying. I do believe politicians in this day and time do what they must to sway the opinions of their major party supporters. Do you believe all voting republicans believe in big government.I would think not. But all our republican politicians have grown our government unbelievably in the last 8 years.Did Bush ever veto anything. That's not conservative republicanism, that's a rupublican political machine lying to their people. I do believe McCain will chop the far right. Just like he choped his entire campaign when he went to New Hampshire last winter.This campaigning BS is a means to an end. I don't think I need 2 or three Thousand more dollars back on my tax refund; when I don't even pay any taxes now. This would happen if Obama gets elected with his talked about tax policies. Our country does not need this. I do hope we can come to some agreement about this as a country. With all this voter registration/election fraud lumingI have my doubts. Maybe it won't turn out like Rodney King after his triel. You know me MD.

MD,

If McCain is suggesting policy that he knows he will reverse after election, then that is clearly a lie. I'm not sure how you are reconciling that. I couldn't vote for someone if I really thought that. I applaud Obama for being honest about the need to raise revenue. It would have been more politically expedient to simply lie, but he didn't. I guess he's is the real straight talker in this election. This is one of the reasons I no longer support McCain (I liked him 8 years ago). McCain's tactics have really harmed his reputation. The worst thing he did is to use emotional rhetoric to play on the prejudice and greed in people. Republicans have given in to tactics of misleading poor misinformed voters with religious language and bigotry. They have played on their inability to access information and know the facts. This is why I left the R party 8 years ago and began voting for libertarians. But now, I can't disengage. I can't become part of the problem myself.

You've focused (likely because of the propaganda techniques on fox news and Rush Limbaugh) on a minor portion of the Obama tax plan (modest and almost negligible tax cuts on the lowest income brackets and you've grossly misquoted the amounts). You've ignored the most important aspect of the plan - fiscal responsibility to pay our bills by increasing our tax revenue on only those that benefit from the current policies. This has been carefully crafted so that only those people who benefit the most from the current financial environment will be asked to pay more (and its a very small amount). Those who get the most from our current policy structures, should pay the most back into the system. In the end, it's simply a good investment on our part (I will likely pay more, but its worth it because I'll get more back from the system).

McCain wants to continue the methods of cutting taxes on the wealthy and not paying our bills. Nobody likes increases, but as a fiscal conservative, I recognize the need to pay our bills. There is nothing responsible about skipping out on the check. It is irresponsible to continue running deficits and there simply is not enough spending to cut. Being conservative is not about being cheap. It is about being responsible.

McCain is focused on cutting earmarks. Great. So is Obama. (Don't ask Sara Palin about the bridge to nowhere in Alaska or Alaska's percentage of earmark spending). But earmarks amount to less than one half of one percent of the budget. Its almost silly. Great, lets end all earmarks, but that leaves us in the same situation. Over 15% of our budget is interest on debt. That number is growing and limiting our ability to do anything. We have 3 main expenses that we some control over as a nation. Medicare, military, and interest on debt. That's really it. Everything else is trivial or not up for debate. What the heck is he going to cut that will do anything? Still interested in that one half of one percent?????? The fact that McCain wants to continue borrowing and focus on .5% is silly and shows how little he knows about the budget and the economy.

The reason for giving more tax breaks to lower income people and small businesses is so they can pay for health care rather than draining from those tax payers who already pay for medical insurance. The cost of health care is draining the responsible middle-class tax payers and small business owners. I know, I see the bills every month and have watched our company insurance policy go up by 20-30% each year to the point that it's more than doubled.

We need to bolster the lower and middle class so we can have them participate in a sensible health care program. You will need a little extra so you can pay your own health care costs. Even McCain's plan addresses that issue. He is suggesting $5000 tax credit (for you who says you don't need a credit) to pay for health care. The problem is that McCain is going to raise taxes on small businesses and middle-class workers who do buy insurance so the poorest Americans can have $5000 to buy a $10,000 policy (which they probably still can't afford to buy). In contrast, Obama only wants to increase those who benefit from the new system the most. The end result of McCain's policy is small businesses and middle-class workers pay more tax, America goes deeper in debt, and republican lobbyists, hedge-fund managers, and Haliburton executives stay in power so they can "drill baby drill" all the way to the bank.

As always, thanks for the dialog.

I am afraid of the left. The ACLU and other leftist organizations that threaten to somehow dislodge a belief system I have had in my country. What your saying is it;s all been a lie. And nthere is reason to get rid of the ten commandments off our buildings and instituions where they have been for a couple hundred years. There is good reason to not have prayerin schools and we, Like Obama has said, shouldn't have to say a pledge of allegiance to our flag.Just where do you stop this barage of crap. When we all just live and let live with this big chunk of government constantly driving us to it's whims. I truly believe our government can once again be for the people and by the people. You have a great deal of facts and knowledge you constantly pour out.I appriciate you and that part of you, I just hope your man and his left wing antics won't someday take away your rightto say such things publicly. In a socialist or farther left a marxist society the rights of the public are considerably challenged. Thanks for the notes.

socialist? marxist? LOL. Thanks for showing your lack of information about the candidates and issues.

The whole point of "leftist" ideology is freedom and liberation. There are things to keep in check from leftists, but freedom of speech is the very basis of liberalism and the last thing to worry about. It is the far right that has sought to limit liberty and freedom. I'm not sure where you get your data, but I'd urge you to up the level of research before speaking.

I support Obama because I've followed him closely and critically. I've read his books and specifically questioned his political views. I chose him because he more closely adhere's to the values in the constitution and a more libertarian viewpoint. He is no liberal. I wish he was more liberal. He is a centrist (probably too centrist) but more sane than McCain and less influenced by lobbyists.

I have one wish for political discourse in this nation. I wish we could get beyond rhetoric and spin so that middle-america that has limited access to information can see all sides for all their good and bad traits. I wish for every American to above all make an informed decision. The only thing I fear, is a lack of information. I wish we had a free and liberal press to inform and educate the public with clear concise critical information about every angle.

The idea of "for the people and by the people" is a very liberal idea. How dare you be such a liberal! Don't you mean "for the wealthy and by the market"?