Powell: It's Time to Lay Off Obama

Republicans, at some point, are going to have to do something, he says
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2010 11:50 AM CST
Powell: It's Time to Lay Off Obama
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell.   (AP Photo/Courtesy CNN Larry King Live)

It's time to get past the incessant partisan potshots being taken at President Obama and forge some progress, Colin Powell told Face the Nation today. "I don’t think the country will be well served if the next three years are attempts to bring him down and destroy him as a political figure," said the Republican, who added that "Americans will want to see some progress" and said he doesn't regret voting for Obama in 2008. Powell also dismissed Dick Cheney's suggestions that the country was less safe under Obama as bunk: "To suggest that somehow we’ve become much less safe because of the administration isn’t born out by the facts.”

  • Powell also supported the Obama administration's move to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal court, but "would not have picked downtown New York."
  • David Petraeus became the latest to endorse repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, telling Meet the Press he's "not sure" that fellow soldiers actually care about the sexuality of their peers. "Over time we said, 'Hey how is this guy's shooting, or how is her analysis, or what have you?'"
  • Evan Bayh tweaked both parties on his way out the door, saying Republicans are sacrificing national good for short-term political gain while Dems are ideological purists who "need to be a little more pragmatic."
  • Amen, says Mitch McConnell, decrying the Dems as "arrogant" and "having a hard time getting the message" on health reform. "The American people do not want this bill to pass," he told Fox News Sunday. McConnell added that the GOP "may well" vote for Dems' jobs bill, though he was noncommittal.
(More Colin Powell stories.)

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