Powell: ‘The Republican Party Needs Me More than the Democratic Party Needs Me’

MITCHELL: “You endorsed Barack Obama on ‘Meet the Press.’ Are you still a Republican or what do you think you are?”

POWELL: “I’m a Republican -- I was a Republican for the eight presidential elections before Mr. Obama where I voted for a Republican president. But when I was in the phase of deciding what I should do in 2008, I was disturbed by the direction in which the party was moving, and I made it clear at the time, and I thought Mr. Obama was the best choice for economic reforms that we needed and for other things that we needed. And so people said, well does that make you a Democrat? And I said, I’m still a Republican. And I think the Republican Party needs me more than the Democratic Party needs me. And you can be a Republican and still feel strongly about issues such as immigration, and improving our education system, and doing something about some of the social problems that exist in our society and our country. I don't think there's anything inconsistent with this."