Powell for Obama?

Speculation that Colin Powell will endorse the presumptive Democratic nominee is growing.

Published June 26, 2008 1:43PM (EDT)

Robert Novak, the legendary conservative columnist who has been tagged as the "Prince of Darkness," focuses his latest column on the subject of "Obamacons," conservatives who support Barack Obama. Two names stand out among those he discusses -- Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who's retiring this year, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Novak says there's no guarantee Hagel will endorse Obama, that the likelier scenario is that he simply won't support John McCain. But Novak does think that Powell will endorse Obama. This, Novak says, has some inside McCain's camp worried. "While McCain strategists shrug off defections from [lesser-known Republicans], they wince in anticipating headlines generated by Powell's expected endorsement of Obama," Novak writes.

Elsewhere, commenting on Novak's column, Time's Mark Halperin throws in a little bit of additional speculation, saying Powell could be "the surprise keynote speaker at the Democrats' convention in Denver" this year.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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