THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 16, 1995 TAG: 9510130029
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Colin Powell looks like an offer a political party couldn't refuse. His personal popularity is huge. In opinion polls, he handily outscores President Clinton and a lackluster field of Republicans led by Sen. Bob Dole.
Seemingly, it's professional Democrats and Republicans who least want Powell for President. Democrats are naturally of two minds about the Powell phenomenon. Powell is identified with the Bush and Reagan administrations. Even if he weren't, wresting a nomination from a sitting president, even an unpopular one, is virtually impossible. So, much as they might like to switch to Powell in midstream, Democrats are probably stuck with Clinton.
Republican lack of enthusiasm for Powell is more interesting. Apparently the Grand Old Party would rather be right, some would say far right, than president. Though Powell might capture the White House by appealing to mainstream voters, it's the conservative wing of the party that does the nominating.
Virginia's Republican apparatus is typical. It's in the hands of the conservatives and Powell doesn't appeal to them. The Richmond Times-Dispatch quotes Republican strategist Morton Blackwell as believing that conservatives who favor Powell ``have taken leave of their senses.'' Patrick McSweeney, the state party chairman, seconds the motion. He says mere popularity isn't enough, ``We need to know core values.''
Actually, what Republicans already know about Powell's core values discourages them. On such litmus-test issues as abortion, affirmative action and welfare, Powell is not working the conservative side of the street.
Powell has also made less than favorable remarks about the Christian Coalition. He's said neither party fits him perfectly. Particularly damning to the zealous conservatives was his support in 1994 of Marshall Coleman over Oliver North. No wonder many Republicans don't warm to the general.
Career politicians who have patiently climbed the ladder always resent amateurs who want to start at the top. Faithful party members think party affiliation means something. They can be forgiven for regarding a person unenthusiastic about either party as a less than ideal standard bearer. And Republican revolutionaries who think they are close to total victory will obviously view with suspicion an interloper who lacks zeal for their program.
If Virginia Republicans are any indication of the party's sentiment nationally, and they are, Colin Powell would have a very hard time winning nomination. Still, what are we to make of a system in which neither party is interested in a candidate who appears more popular than anyone they've got to offer? Isn't something seriously wrong when the centrist majority of the country's voters is repeatedly given a choice in presidential races that they think comes down to bad and worse? by CNB