Powell on his Party
Colin Powell unloaded on his own political party Sunday on "Meet the Press."
Powell on his Party
John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist
Although many voices from the political left label large parts of the Republican Party intolerant, bigoted and too far right, it's rare when a top Republican joins that chorus.
Yet that's what happened Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" when one of America's most-respected Republicans, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, offered a harsh assessment of his own party.
You can see the interview here.
Asserting that he remains a Republican, Powell, nonetheless, called the GOP a party with "an identity problem," one that has shifted too far right and shown the nation a "dark vein of intolerance."
The result, he noted, is two successive loses in presidential elections.
Powell, who supported President Obama in 2008 and 2012, blasted parts of his party for pushing policies and allowing language and discussion that contributes to the sense that it tends to "look down on minorities."
He noted demographic changes that increase the voting power of minorities and specifically pointed to GOP initiatives in several states (including Pennsylvania) making it more difficult for minorities to vote, and to the "birther" movement.
He noted much of the former was struck down by the courts or backfired, resulting in high minority turnout. And of the later he asked, "Why do senior Republican leaders tolerate this kind of discussion?"
He also made reference to comments last year from former Alaska Gov. (and 2008 Veep candidate) Sarah Palin who said Obama was "shuckin' and jivin'" on attacks in Benghazi. Powell called her words "a racial-era slave term."
Powell hasn't been much in the news, but the last major polling data on him (a CNN poll in May of 2009, after he supported Obama's election) found a 70% approval rating.
I suspect a new poll would produce a similar number. And I believe public figures with the experience and credibility of Powell should be a greater part of the public debate.
But I wonder whether leaders of his party will seriously consider his remarks, or write them off as an over-generalized racial rant.
Hit the nail right on the head, problem was he didn't use a hammer on a real head!— gibby58- Powell really isn't a Republican. Since he has supported Obama for two elections and leans to the left of center, why bother to call yourself something you are not. Bye bye General!— boroughboy
- Being a real Republican does not mean he has to agree with the agenda that the party currently has. At one time there were moderate Republicans that were allowed to call themselves Republicans. If this is no longer true then the party is going to be in trouble for a long time. — DEC
- He is correct, of course. However, from the time Nixon (Happy 100th!) courted the unreconstructed Wallace Democrats opposed to the Civil Rights Act, flat out racists have been an essential part of the Republican Party. This has been exacerbated by Rove's successful attempts to elect candidates based on racial fears, followed by the "Tea Party" (originally dealing with economic issues) takeover by birthers and other racists. Right now, any Republican who challenges the extreme right is almost guaranteed a primary fight, even in blue districts in which a Tea Party candidate is almost guaranteed to lose. So the far right controls the party, but cannot win national elections. I see little way to get out of this stalemate, especially since because of gerrymandering, the Far Right can control the House even while garnering fewer votes than the Democrats for the House nationally.— Palestra Jon
Another well-respected Republican who hates what his Party has become. Let's see...who do the majority of Americans respect more...Colin Powell or Louis Gohmert?— wokmaster- Maybe if you watched the interview you would understand his views on why he's still in the GOP— gibby58
- if it wasn't for the republican party colin powell would never had been heard of.good riddance general.— seanmike
- The GOP loves "minorities" like Clarence Thomas. Now that is a "good boy".— phillyrican48
- Powell seems like an intelligent, decent man. So why is he still a pubbie? That kind of moral dissonance would take its toll on anyone.— carl and sons
- Ironic that it was Powell who sold the idea of WMD to the "poor gullible Congress" that voted to conduct the Iraq campaign. Now kind of like Bill Clinton after office, he is now considered "well respected".
When he calls out "his own party", though, that MUST be the truth....— Wiseman6 - He didn't evade responsibility for his mistake, which was basically trusting the wrong people.
He would never make a good CEO for this reason. His finger-pointing skills are insufficient.— carl and sons - What has Powell done since 2003 to show he's a Republican? He drools over Obama like a smitten schoolgirl and claims Republicans are too far right which is a joke. For a Republican ex-military man, he seems to have no problem with Obama's authoritarian rule and his handling of Iran, Egypt, Russia and Libya as well as the 9/11 attack last year. Powell really sounds dumb and shallow and he'd probably be a disaster as president.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- It's not General Powell's fault - President Obama has a way of making Repugnants drool over him like smitten school girls.(Okay, that's stretching it somewhat when, after all, I have to include Governor Christie in that gaggle.)
- Powell is 100% correct. The modern Republican Party is comprised of bigoted old white men. That's fine if you want to win elections in Texas or Alabama. The GOP will continue to lose national elections until they purge the nitwit dopes who infect their party. On the positive side, watching the GOP implode is a glorious site to behold! FORWARD!— The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
- ¡Ten cuidado!
I agree with everything you say except I need to point out that Texas and Alabama don't have a monopoly on "bigoted old white men". Far from it (just read a lot of the Comments on philly.com or even the NY Times).
Also the bigoted-white-old-men problem pales in view of what's happening at this very moment in the GOP - they not only have not repudiated the Neocons who gave us our Middle East Wars during the Bush Administration, they're openly embracing them anew.
There is an ugly campaign going on right now to discredit and reject General Chuck Hagel's appointment as Secretary of Defense.
Headed by William Kristol others including Daniel Perle, Paul D. Wolfowitz, Elliott Abrams, Sheldon Adelson and more have written letters, given television interviews and are funding commercials discrediting Hagel through lies and innuendo - sound familiar?
Same old song!
John is the author of the book "On The Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics: Twenty-Five Years of Keystone Reporting" (The History Press, 2012). Reach John at baerj@phillynews.com.
