So John Sununu, former governor of New Hampshire and one of the co-chairs of the Romney campaign, reacted to Colin Powell's cross-party-lines endorsement of Obama this way:
SUNUNU: You have to wonder whether that’s an endorsement based on issues or that he’s got a slightly different reason for President Obama.
MORGAN: What reason would that be?
SUNUNU: Well, I think that when you have somebody of your own race that you’re proud of being President of the United States — I applaud Colin for standing with him.
And, in doing so, probably echoed what at least 80% of Republicans and 30% of Democrats probably thought.
Of course, Sununu completely blew what credibility he had left by later taking a lesson from his nominee and spinning around 180 degrees.
'Colin Powell is a friend and I respect the endorsement decision he made, I do not doubt that it was based on anything but his support of the President’s policies. Piers Morgan’s question was whether Colin Powell should leave the party, and I don’t think he should.'
You "do not doubt" it, John, but you thought you'd "wonder" about it anyway? Pull the other one.
Now, I do suspect that Powell is pleased that an African-American is in the White House. I don't know that I would call the insinuation that Powell is using that as the sole, or even primary, criterion for supporting Obama "racist" in and of itself (and it's hardly "a shocking new low" in this campaign), but it is a rather gross insult to Sununu's ostensible "friend".
Are we to assume, in turn, that Sununu is supporting Romney because Romney's white? Is this another case of projection, John?
For that matter, does Sununu feel any twinges of conscience for picking up the attack line that Rush Limbaugh was using back in 2008 when, after early support of John McCain, Powell formally endorsed Obama?
Is it racist? It's certainly a not-so-subtle "us-vs-them" kind of thing — implying that "those people" will always band together (presumably against "us people"). But to the extent that Powell retains respect among centrist voters, I suppose the Romney campaign had to come up with some sort of way to dismiss his endorsement of Obama as non-substantive. It's just a shame (and, i suspect, ultimately counter-productive) they injected a racial note (again) to the campaign to do so.
Reshared post from +Think Progress
A shocking new low for the Romney campaign.
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Romney Campaign Chair: Colin Powell Endorsed Obama Because He Is Black
In an interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan this evening, Romney Campaign Co-Chair and former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu (R-NH) offered a surprising theory on why General Colin Powell endorsed Preside…
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So, a disgraced member of a past Republican administration who resigned under a cloud of scandal said something disgraceful, thereby causing a scandal? That's unpossible!
Be more unpossible if Romney hadn't been so pleased to name him a co-chair of his campaign. 😛
Romney has made so many bad decisions in this election season. Only because he could lie so easily and is so rich—and his opponents so mock-worthy—did he make it this far!