There is no doubt that Joe Biden will welcome the endorsement of retired General Colin Powell. It is having the desired effect of getting under President Trump's very thin, orange skin.
But is anyone really surprised that Powell would endorse Biden? We know Powell doesn't care for Trump given his endorsement of Hillary Clinton in 2016. Not that it helped Hillary much.
Powell's endorsement of the Obama-Biden ticket in October 2008 on Meet the Press put the nail in McCain campaign's coffin. Here was a man only four years removed from being Secretary of State in a Republican administration endorsing the Democratic presidential standard bearer. Powell's endorsement of Biden represents the fourth consecutive election he has supported the Democratic presidential standard bearer. So the law of diminishing effects applies here.
If Biden were to receive the public endorsement of either former President George W. Bush and/or 2012 Republican presidential candidate now Senator Mitt Romney then it would be to the 2020 race what Powell's endorsement of Obama was in 2008 - only larger.
The endorsement of a Democratic presidential nominee by either a former Republican presidential nominee or a former Republican president would be unprecedented. While a majority of Republicans will remain loyal to Trump, a word from either Bush or Romney could attract a sliver of Republicans and even some independents to embrace Biden and put him over the edge.
In Romney's case, he would be endorsing a man who was part of the presidential ticket he ran against only 8 years ago. Romney would be taking a political risk given his status as a sitting Republican Senator. Of course, Romney was the lone GOP Senator who voted to impeach President Trump earlier this year. That Romney won't support Trump is a given. But that he would prepared to publicly endorse Biden would be both an act of political courage and an act of political suicide.
With Bush, we have a man whose name is synonymous with the Republican Party. While the Bushes have enjoyed good relations with both the Clintons and the Obamas, the thought of a public endorsement of a Democrat would be heresy. In Trump world, it would be an act of treason. But the image of Bush and Obama standing alongside Biden would be one not easily forgotten.
Naturally there is a risk that if either Bush or Romney endorsed Biden that it could alienate the Democratic Party's progressive base. They still regard Bush as a war criminal, view Romney as an evil businessman and regard Biden with suspicion.
But I think most Democrats simply want Trump out of office. Given everything that has happened with Trump's response to both COVID-19 and the civil unrest following the murder of George Floyd, if the rest of the country sees that either Bush or Romney wants Trump gone and say we're better off with Biden then there's a good chance they will follow suit.
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