The retired Army general from Fox Island who shouted "dump Rumsfeld!" from the pages of the New York Times in 2006 these days is leading a committee of Washington military veterans for Barack Obama.

Paul Eaton, who was at the center of the so-called "Revolt of the Generals," initially supported Hillary Clinton but switched to Obama after she withdrew from the race. Since then he's been traveling the country speaking and writing about defense issues as a surrogate for the Democratic nominee – notably at the two political conventions and (sometimes painfully) on TV.

He headlined a Washington Veterans for Obama press conference today in Seattle.

"Basically the last eight years of military incompetence and government incompetence on the part of the Republican Party has completely soured me, and I do not want another day of a Republican administration," Eaton said in an interview en route to the event.

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Eaton, 58, described himself as a lifelong independent voter but with conservative leanings. He said he admires John McCain but that he's surrounded himself with many of the same advisers who've been close to President Bush.

"However valorous Sen. McCain has been and still is, his administration will be a direct reflection of what we've had with the Bush administration," Eaton said.

Others who appeared Wednesday included state Sen. Steve Hobbs, a Lake Stevens Democrat and Army National Guardsman who served in Iraq, and Harvey Brooks, regional director of the National Association of Black Veterans.

Eaton said McCain is "in lockstep" with Bush regarding policies for returning war veterans. He noted the Arizona senator's opposition to the Webb-Hagel GI Bill that expanded education benefits for veterans.

McCain, naturally, boasts his own roster of retired general and flag officers who support his campaign.

But Eaton said the Obama campaign has its retired military supporters.

"I'm not alone. There are a lot of guys out there, four-stars, three-stars, two-star ranks who feel very much like I do," he said.

"There are a lot of us out there who are just fed up with the incompetence of what we've seen and the willingness to dump on the shoulders of America's soldiers and Marines the problems of our foreign policy, and it's got to stop."

Eaton said he's working as an unpaid adviser to the campaign and, for now, has put aside work on the book he's writing about his experiences with the Iraq mission. He is not contemplating a position in an Obama administration, but. ...

"PJ and I are not terribly interested in leaving Fox Island. That comes up from time to time," he said. "But I also say that if the president of the United States asks you to do something, a citizen has an obligation to do it. I believe that ... so it would be a difficult choice at that point. But I'm doing this out of a concept of duty, not out of any concern for future options."