Earlier today, Colin Powell endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on NBC's "Meet the Press." I was reading the reactions of different political strategists found in the arena of politico.com. One Stanford law professor called this endorsement "the most important, most profoundly stated seven minutes of this campaign."

Jim Leach, a former Congressman for more than 30 years and current Princeton professor, said that Powell's endorsement legitimized Obama's campaign. He went on to say that the issues of the economy have "caused us to look inward, but the fact is that a revival of American international leadership will be required if our economy as well as foreign policy are to be re-balanced. More of the same, Powell strongly implied, doesn't fit the times."

Kevin Madden, a republican strategist, said that he doesn't believe endorsements sway the opinions of voters that much. However, another scholar said that this endorsment was another way of "closing the sale" for the Obama campaign. Even Madden said that Colin Powell was respected by voters across party lines and had the ability to ease "those doubts about Obama's readiness and experience."

In my editorial and opinion writing class, we learned that endorsements only change one to five percent of voters' opinions, but could this endorsement be different?