THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 26, 1995 TAG: 9509260302
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Colin L. Powell, selling books and a possible presidential candidacy coast to coast, is emerging as an acute pain in the neck to extreme right-wingers.
It is one of the funniest spectacles ever to enliven American politics.
Little did the ranters reckon when they were dreaming of him as another Dwight Eisenhower come to save the GOP that he would disclose bit by bit that he is - gack! - something of a moderate, maybe even deserving, here and there, that dread brand liberal.
The self-righteous right is startled that Powell looks benignly upon affirmative action; their shock measures their own naivete.
Did they expect that having had his ascent eased up the ladder that Powell, upon reaching the top rung, would turn as Clarence Thomas did and try to kick away the ladder in the faces of others climbing it?
The National Rifle Association must have been thunder-struck, poor souls, upon learning that the general favors sensible gun controls, such as a waiting period to run a background check on someone purchasing a gun.
The NRA worked its opposition to any gun controls as a single-shot issue to bring down Democrats in the 1994 congressional elections.
Should Powell enter the presidential primaries, how can the NRA seek to quell the overlord of Desert Storm by asking what he knows about guns?
Is there anything the retired general doesn't know of guns and how and where they can best be used? He would seem to be the ultimate arbiter on that point.
Powell chides as well those who strive to ``demonize'' welfare mothers. How now, Newt?
What also irks the rightists is the general's underscoring of a recent poll that shows his middle-of-the-road views on some issues would be popular among Republicans.
``There is a broader spectrum within the Republican Party than one might have expected just listening to the right,'' he said.
The general's reputation, his career of achievement, and the record crowds turning out on his tour of book stores discourage critics from attacking him. Other GOP presidential candidates refer to him as a great American.
Rightists fret lest Powell's brief salute to moderate positions tends to validate them in the eyes of some voters. Even his mention of them is a break in the chorus of boos.
Radio talk shows have turned the word liberal into an epithet, much as the Democrats of Barry Goldwater's day cheapened the word conservative.
Talk-show hosts warn that the jubilation over Powell stems from the media's manipulation. That's specious. The media are simply tracing a phenomenon and will report it as it wanes, as will this wretch among them. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Colin Powell's stand on sensible gun control must have struck hard
at the heart of the NRA.
by CNB