General Colin Powell is a Republican, but his daughter, New York actress Linda Powell, is backing Barack Obama. “I thought his speech was absolutely amazing,” she said at a benefit for the Fortune Society on March 18, the night of his address on race. “With all the replaying of the reverend’s statements, I thought, How is he going to talk about this in a way that people are going to understand and move forward? And not only did he put a lot of questions to rest, he challenged us to have a conversation that we need to have.” The Powell family is all over the political map. “My brother’s a McCain supporter; I’m an Obama supporter; my sister, last I talked to her, was leaning toward Obama,” Powell said. “Mom’s an independent, and Dad’s hasn’t endorsed anyone. I don’t think either one of them has made their final decision yet,” she said.

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• Archive: “Intelligencer”
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