The GOP knew they had a loser way back, that’s why they had him take Palin. Just look at how wall street contributed to these two shills. Across the board, Obama got about 30% more than McCain. So they were hedging with McCain, but kinda knew Obama has it to lose. Powell, who really cares? Just a little icing on the cake. He’s a soldier, does what he’s told. He probably figures there’s a cake job for him when the dust settles.