Former Bush administration Secretary of State Colin Powell (2001-2005) gave a ringing endorsement for Democratic candidate Barack Obama on “Meet the Press” this morning, confirming speculation that has had Democrats buzzing excitedly and members of the right scratching their heads in puzzlement.

Powell explained his choice:

“[Obama] has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure… Obama displayed a steadiness. Showed intellectual vigor. He has a definitive way of doing business that will do us well.”

He also cited Sarah Palin’s inexperience as a count against supporting John McCain. One must wonder if other moderate members of the Republican party are asking themselves the same thing. Additionally, he called out McCain’s unsavory campaign tactics regarding Bill Ayers and robocalls throughout the country. “It’s not what the American people are looking for,” Powell said. He claimed the direction of the McCain campaigned “troubles” him.

Watch this clip. I never realized how much I love Colin Powell.

John McCain showed an even more disturbing side of himself than usual last night. This time, he actually had the respect to look at Obama (or glare blinkingly, which may actually be creepier), but he did not respect his opponent (whom he deemed “eloquent” numerous times, apparently not realizing that this is a compliment) enough to keep his mouth shut while Obama was talking.

McCain repeatedly interupted Obama, often trying to interject “a funny” when he was the only one laughing. He also didn’t listen to Obama, except for the one “zero” moment. Every point Obama made, supported by references to numerous non-partisan fact check and media sources, McCain refused to accept. You don’t have to admit your opponent is right, but when you’ve been proven wrong, you should keep your mouth shut so that you don’t look like a liar. When McCain erroneously characterized Obama’s relationship with Ayers as friendly, Obama looked into the camera and set the record straight. Then McCain came back with his favorite “campaign launched in Ayers’ living room” talking point. He didn’t follow up with questions on anything Obama had said. He just acted as though he hadn’t been listening; probably because he hadn’t.

McCain’s urgent insistence on helping Joe the Plumber buy a business made evident his need to help the rich get richer. He repeatedly criticized Obama for wanting to “spread the wealth around.” That’s the difference between the tax policies of Obama and McCain. Obama wants everyone to have a fair shot at being in a position to buy their own business, like Joe the Plumber wants to, and McCain only wants people who are already in a position of fortune to be able to advance and succeed. “You’re rich!” he kept saying to Joe the Plumber, implying that simply owning a business would make Joe the Plumber wealthy.

What McCain neglected to mention, and I wish Obama had, is that according to the National Federation of Independent Business, only 39% of small businesses are profitable. In fact, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 50% of small businesses fail in the first five years. Simply owning a business won’t ensure anything for Joe the Plumber. However, Barack Obama’s tax cuts for small businesses that provide health insurance for employees, create green jobs or keep jobs in the U.S. will help Joe the Plumber have the extra capital on hand to help him toward being in the 50% of small businesses that make it past the five-year mark.

If John McCain could possibly care any less about a demographic than he does about the poor, it’s pregnant women. That fetus is a heck of a lot more important to John McCain than your life, mommy-to-be. If you suffer from complications during your pregnancy and your life is on the line, McCain would rather see you dead than allow an abortion to save your life. This is the man Republicans want choosing our next Supreme Court justices. Barack Obama isn’t pro-abortion; he’s pro-women’s rights. He wants the choice in a terrible situation to be yours, something you decide with your doctor, partner, and spiritual counselor if you have one. McCain just wants you to have that baby and martyr yourself for the cause. Some pro-choice activists fall his take on abortion “forced birth.” In cases where a woman’s “health” is on the line, it should be considered “forced death.”

John McCain would rather not talk about the economy. He would rather not talk about George Bush. You know, for someone who feels confident in his ability to lead the country toward change in the future, he spends an awful lot of time talking about Barack Obama’s past (when he’s not talking about his own time as a POW and the long line of McCains who have served in the military. Oh and by the way, Obama’s grandfather served in World War II… he’s pictured below, with a young Barack).

The only difference I see between George W. Bush and John McCain is that the “Maverick” is older and meaner.

Here’s the clip skipping right to the “meat” of it, when McCain mocks Obama for caring about the “health” of a pregnant woman:

Here’s the full clip:

Republicans and Independents who are less than thrilled with John McCain’s recent streak of nasty negativity can actually find common ground with the Democratic candidate that may surprise them. These are not rumors; they are factual statements that are supported. I encourage you to share them with your undecided and “on the fence” Republican friends and family.

1. Barack Obama supports gun ownership for self-defense and hunting. While he opposes the private ownership of semi-automatic weapons, he “is a strong supporter of the 2nd amendment and will not, as president, seek to interfere with an individuals’ right to own a gun for hunting and self-protection” (The Washington Post). Second amendment proponents may be dismayed that Obama supports banning assault weapons, but you must know that John McCain has ALSO indicated he would be open to banning assault weapons (OntheIssues.org).

2. 95% of Americans WILL receive a tax cut under Obama’s plan. To calculate your exact tax cut based on your income and filing status, visit here: http://taxcut.barackobama.com/. John McCain does not offer a tax cut for 95% of Americans, and instead supports sending Americans $5,000 to use toward purchasing their own, non-employer sponsored health care policies. For the average American family, a buy-in health care policy and medical co-pays and other medical costs can cost as much as or more than $5,000 a year, and many buy-in policies WILL NOT COVER pre-existing health problems, meaning anyone in your family with a chronic illness may not be able to have health insurance. Obama supports employer-sponsored health insurance, keeping your health care costs what they are today if you currently have employer-sponsored health insurance.

3. Bi-partisan economists overwhelmingly prefer Obama’s economic plan to McCain’s. As the Economist magazine found in a recent survey of academic economists:

Much of McCain’s plan, outlined today, emphasizes a capital gains tax cut, which is mostly irrelevant given that no one is making capital gains in the current economic climate.

4. McCain claims to want to reform the crooked and corrupt Washington political atmosphere, yet his running mate Sarah Palin violated Alaska state ethic laws and abused her power for personal gain in the firing of a state trooper. As the Dallas Morning News so eloquently put it yesterday:

“Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin claims the Troopergate investigation clears her of wrongdoing in the firing of her public safety commissioner, which it does not.

The state ethics panel investigation – a bipartisan effort started by a Legislature controlled by her own Republican party – found that though she was technically within her rights to fire the man, she violated state ethics law and abused her power in doing so.”

5. McCain’s stubbornness and temper are worrisome when it comes to delicate foreign diplomacy issues, as he has already refused to commit to meeting with a NATO ally, with one of the largest economies in Europe. The Washington Post’s PostGlobal reported:

“First [McCain] appeared not to know that Spain was in Europe, not Latin America, and to mix up Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero with the Zapatistas. Then foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann said McCain had indeed refused to commit to meeting with Zapatero. Spain is not only one of Europe’s largest economies, but it is a NATO ally with troops in Afghanistan. Perhaps McCain was tired. He certainly knows where Spain is: he is a U.S. Senator, after all, and he knocked out half the country’s electricity when his plane hit some power lines back in the 1960s.”

When discussing an energy bill that George W. Bush supported, John McCain asked the crowd to “guess” which of the two candidates voted in favor of it. He then pointed at Barack Obama, without looking at him, and said “That one.”

Grampy McSame has sunk to a new low.

Developing…

So, how about Sarah Palin last night, heh?

Just in from CNN’s Political Ticker:

John McCain is slated to raise questions about Barack Obama’s background and question the Illinois senator’s truthfulness at a rally in New Mexico later Monday, one day before the two White House hopefuls square off at the second presidential debate.

The comments, which come hours after Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin publicly questioned Obama’s patriotism while raising questions about his connections to onetime radical William Ayers, are among McCain’s harshest language to date on the campaigning trail and signal the campaign is ratcheting its attacks on the Illinois senator with less than 30 days remaining until Election Day.

“I don’t need lessons about telling the truth to American people,” McCain will say according to prepared text sent out by his campaign. “And were I ever to need any improvement in that regard, I probably wouldn’t seek advice from a Chicago politician.”

For someone who was a part of the notorious Keating Five scandal to levy attack after attack against an entire city is rich. McCain would have you believe that Obama was knocking back beers with Al Capone during prohibition for all his attacks against Chicago’s political scene.

First and foremost, Obama isn’t Mayor Daley or Rod Blagojevich; legislative politics in Illinois are a world away from Chicago’s City Council. Second, as someone who has worked in politics on a national level in Washington D.C. and currently works in politics in Chicago, I can tell you that the Washington scene is far more broken than the Windy City’s. Chicago politicians don’t smile and kiss each other’s asses; if they don’t like you or what you stand for, you know it. No mincing words. And Chicago’s residents are unabashedly opinionated about politics. You can spend 15 minutes in a cab and know exactly which taxes the cab driver is opposed to and which Aldermen he’d throw right out of his car if they attempted to catch a ride. God forbid people have a little PASSION about politics. Is that what McCain is so against?

Do you know why Bush won the 2000 primaries and McCain didn’t? Because Bush tore McCain down from a war hero to a coward and a liar. Do you know why Bush won the 2004 elections? Because he tore Kerry down from a hero to a coward and a liar. Now, McCain has employed the same tactics and individuals who destroyed him eight years ago and battered his so-called “friend” John Kerry, and he’s looking to take down Obama in the same classless, immoral way. Obama, on the other hand, poised and level-headed, doesn’t need to tear down McCain to look good to the desperate American people, starving for change. In fact, Obama looks so good on his own that the more digging McCain and Palin do, the better Obama does.

Sarah Palin made the mistake of insulting community organizers in her RNC speech more than a month ago. Now McCain is insulting an entire city in an effort to take down its “prince.” The Maverick may not want to “seek advice from a Chicago politician,” which is probably a good thing. We wouldn’t want any of our passion wasted on him.

(Map from www.electoral-vote.com)

Since the first Obama/McCain debate and the climax of the economic crisis, John McCain has steadily fallen in the polls in states where he once led, in some cases, substantially.

According to USAElectionPolls.com, a site which tallies all national and statewide polls, Obama now leads McCain in the following battleground states:

Florida (27 electoral votes): Obama 49%, McCain 46% (Insider Advantage Poll, 9/30/08)
Pennsylvania (21 electoral votes): Obama 50%, McCain 42% (Rasmussen Poll, 9/28/08)
Ohio (20 electoral votes): Obama 47%, McCain 45% (Insider Advantage Poll, 9/28/08)
Michigan (17 electoral votes): Obama 51%, McCain 41% (Public Policy Poll, 9/29/08-10/1/08)
New Jersey (15 electoral votes): Obama 48%, McCain 39% (Strategic Vision Poll, 9/26/08-9/28/08)
North Carolina (15 electoral votes): Obama 50%, McCain 47% (Rasmussen Poll, 9/30/08)
Missouri (11 electoral votes): Obama 49%, McCain 48% (CNN/Time Poll, 9/28/08-9/30/08)
Washington state (11 electoral votes): Obama 53%, McCain 43% (Rasmussen Poll, 10/2/08)
Wisconsin (10 electoral votes): Obama 49%, McCain 40% (Strategic Vision Poll, 9/26/08-9/28/08)
Colorado (9 electoral votes): Obama 49%, McCain 48% (Rasmussen Poll, 9/28/08)
Iowa (7 electoral votes): Obama 51%, McCain 43% (Rasmussen Poll, 9/25/08)
Connecticut (7 electoral votes): Obama 54%, McCain 38% (Survey USA Poll, 9/24/08-9/25/08)
Oregon (7 electoral votes): Obama 52%, McCain 41% (Survey USA Poll, 9/22/08-9/23/08)
New Mexico (5 electoral votes): Obama 49%, McCain 44% (Rasmussen Poll, 10/1/08)
Nevada (5 electoral votes): Obama 53%, McCain 43% (Rasmussen Poll, 10/1/08)
New Hampshire (4 electoral votes): Obama 53%, McCain 43% (Rasmussen Poll, 10/1/08)

Additionally, Obama is keeping it close (within 5 points) in previously Red strongholds like Virginia, Georgia, and Indiana.

Each candidate leads their own homestate (Illinois and Arizona) by 20 points, and Obama is also leading in Joe Biden’s homestate of Delaware by 20 points (McCain leads in Alaska by only 17 points, despite repeated false claims that Palin is the most popular Governor in America).  But by far the biggest margin is in Washington D.C., where Obama leads by 70 points.

UPDATE: Interesting NY Times piece on the topic.