On “Meet the Press” Sunday an old College Professor of mine, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, formerly Chief of Staff to Colin Powell at the State Department, announced that he would “likely vote for Sen. Obama and cross [his] fingers.”  Col. Wilkerson, a Republican, has long been vocal in his criticism of the Bush presidency, saying, perhaps in his most spirited condemnation of the administration in 2007:

You compare Bill Clinton’s peccadilloes for which he was impeached to George Bush’s high crimes and misdemeanors or Dick Cheney’s high crimes and misdemeanors, and I think they pale in significance.

I am not at all surprised by Wilkerson’s comments, or his (albeit reticent) endorsement of Obama.  In all of my discussions with him, Col. Wilkerson had difficulty masking his resentment towards the Bush administration, over the War in Iraq in particular.  There is little question that the Iraq issue, most notably Secretary Powell’s now infamous address before the United Nations pressing the case for war, sullied Powell’s reputation.  Though Powell and Wilkerson had a very public break when Wilkerson came out strongly in the press against the conduct of the Iraq War, Wilkerson’s respect for his former boss is palpable and he no doubt feels some resentment towards Sen. McCain, who has been a very vocal supporter of the conflict, for playing a role in the tarnishing of the Powell’s legacy.

Nevertheless, Wilkerson stated that his primary dissatisfaction with McCain came not from his days in the State Department, but rather from the McCain campaign itself.  Said Wilkerson,

McCain, who in the course of his senate career was never too corrupted by the process, has run a campaign that proves he wants so badly to win the Oval Office that he was willing [to] sacrifice his integrity and character and found himself in the thrall of vested interest.

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