An Open Letter to Colin Powell
Editor’s note: Hopefully Mr. Powell will listen to this.
Dear Mr. Powell,
You probably have not been getting a whole lot of emails from Republicans thanking you for your words as of late, but I want to be one of the few Republicans that says thanks. I am glad that you are staying in the GOP and telling those who want to make lists of who is in and who is out to stop being so exclusive and narrow-minded.
You are one of the reasons I became a Republican. It’s hard to find many African Americans who are Republicans, and here you were, an example of a black man that worked hard, and served his country in so many different ways. I knew that if someone like you could call yourself a Republican, than I knew I could.
That said, I do have some concerns with your recent statements. It’s not that I don’t appreciate them – I do. But I feel that those of us that want a more-inclusive GOP have to do more than talk about it on blogs or Sunday morning talk shows. We have to actually get involved in trying to change the party.
I think Bruce Bartlett puts it best when he states the following:
..if Powell is going to make a point of staying in a party that doesn’t particularly want him—former Vice President Dick Cheney has more or less told him to leave—then Powell has a responsibility to do more than give the occasional television interview criticizing the GOP’s lack of inclusiveness; he needs to engage it on a systematic basis.
Powell has to accept that he is in a unique position to command attention and lead the Republican Party—or at least that part of it that isn’t consumed with defending the indefensible on torture or living in a fantasy world where the economy would be booming today if it just wasn’t for Obama’s budget deficits. It’s a pretty small constituency these days—most of those, like me, who share Powell’s views have left his party to become independents—but it may be enough to build a foundation on that can offer a meaningful challenge to the dominant Cheney-Limbaugh-Palin wing of the Republican Party that views all efforts to expand its membership as a sell-out to be resisted at all cost, even if it means further political losses.
Those words might seem a bit harsh to hear, but I have to say that Mr. Bartlett’s words carry more than a grain of truth. The fact is, people like Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney are deciding who gets to be in the GOP. People like you and I are thought of as Republicans in Name Only. We have to be willing to tell people why we belong in this party and take on the bullies who want us out.
But Mr. Bartlett is asking you to go beyond a few words on a Sunday morning show. Because of who you are, you carry a certain amount of weight. Your words in Boston and later on television are giving moderates a real voice. Voices are important. You are giving voice to millions of moderates both within and without the GOP who wish the party were more of a center-right party than a right-wing party.
But I think now you have to take the next step: use your voice to stir up a movement of change within the GOP.
It’s important that you help revive the moderate wing in the party. In a recent blog post, I noted there needs to be a centrist GOP infrastructure ala the Democratic Leadership Council. You could use your expertise and voice to help form new groups that would make the moderate voice stronger and willing to take on the extremist elements in the GOP. You could also create strong PACs that would help elect moderate Republican candidates for office.
The fact is, you have a lot of power, Mr. Powell. I applaud you for what you are doing now, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done. We need you to be the soldier again and lead us to battle. If this party is as important to you as you say it is, then please respond to the call.
13 Responses to “An Open Letter to Colin Powell”
The problem with Colin Powell claiming to be a Republican is that his personal political beliefs are so similar to President Obama's is that those beliefs are indistinguishable from Democratic Party boilerplate. Colin Powell is not pushing for a Democratic-lite Republican Party but for the Republican Party an exact copy of the Democratic Party.
If Colin Powell had any credibility talking about conservative then people like Limbaugh would not feel so comfortable criticizing Colin Powell. However, when Colin Powell supports the big government, nanny state, social engineering of the Democratic Party, then Colin Powell should be honest enough to admit that he is really a Democrat and only associated with Republicans for personal opportunity and advancement.
Dennis:
“I have no dog in this fight,” but those seem quite fair questions of and comments on Colin Powell by a moderate Republican.
The sad truth is that–even if Mr. Powell would do everything you ask of him–a certain faction will continue to vilify him and try to exclude him,
supposedly on Conservative “principles.”
I have no issue with Powell's positions, and in fact hope that someone like him with those positions can assume a strong leadership position in the Republican Party. And it will happen, eventually, and the party will start the road to recovery.
But it will not be Colin Powell.
Leadership means that – leading when it is tough, not obvious. When he really could have shown a new path, a new direction, and caharcter of convition in this needed new vision of what it means to be a Republican he choose to not run, sat on the sidelines, and millions for giving speeches (not that I begrudge him making money).
While I have no issue with him endorsing Obama as a concept, the manner that he did so, waiting until it was obvious Obama would win, was so feckless, gutless and self-serving that he lost all credibility, IMHO. Had he come out early, even soon after the primaries, and made the same endorsement, I would have much more respect for him now.
And that is not revisionist on my part. I have a solid history of posts stating that exact position on this board.
We do need new, fresh leadership in the Republican party, but it has to be stronger, and less cautious and calculating, than Colin Powell has shown himself to be throughout his career.
“………feckless, gutless and self-serving……”
A perfect description of Colin Powell.
If you have convictions and principles, come out and state what they are. To sit back and snipe at the party and then claim you are a supporter, just emphasizes what a worthless sack of omni-directional moderate you are.
How could someone so totally devoid of courage and leadership rise to a rank of General?
“………feckless, gutless and self-serving……”
That is true of all politicians. Rove and W pushed policies to create a generation of Republican. Look how well that worked…
Woohoo. Food fight.
Sure, Colin Powell should strive to reform the party from within, while the rabid right blasts him nonstop, just as you see in comments here. The GOP is in a lose/lose position, and the more they demonize moderates, the more I like it. Go guys.
GD – man, you sure do love to twist things to fit your pre-defined message.
I have done zero “demonizing” of his positions; I have only criticized his actions. If actual actions are not fair game to criticize, what is?
I think you are getting soft in your old age if these comments count as blasting, or rabid right-oriented.
Finally, I have no issue with him trying to help reform the party. my comments were pretty clear that what I was saying is that he will never achieve a leadership position, from the moderates, not because of his words, but because of his actions. He had a chance to lead, and walked away.
AR, I wasn't actually referring to you as a part of the rabid right. I find your positions unnervingly moderate sometimes. But you're still blasting Powell, in this case, for being loyal to his president during Bush's term. He would have been blasted either way, whether he spoke out sooner, or later.
DENNIS SANDERS OP-ED: An Open Letter To Colin Powe…
The black moderate-liberal Republican blogger hopes that Mr. Powell moves from talking about the need for the Republican Party to listen to moderates to building a moderate infrastructure within the party: “I am glad that you are staying in the GOP a….
GD -
unnervingly moderate
I LOVE THAT!
Another one I need to trademark – “AustinRoth. Unnervingly Moderate.”
GD -
I am unclear what you mean by blasting Powell, in this case, for being loyal to his president during Bush's term
If you are referring to his support of Obama, again, I thought I was clear. I have zero issue whatsoever with that position. The position itself is commendable. I do not require people, in my mind, to march in lockstep belief to the Party Principles (caps intentional).
My objection is totally on the manner it was done, waiting until the last second, long after the fight was over, to stake a position. I prefer my leaders, especially those that proclaim they are the ones to clean the Augean Stables, to show a little more intestinal fortitude.
If you meant something else, please fill me in. I am not getting it.
what I meant is that Powell was a part of the Bush administration. He voiced his opposition to Bush policies within the administration, but for the most part remained silent through the rest of the Bush years. I can agree that was cowardly, but also can appreciate that he may have had some loyalty to the Bush administration that made him hold his tongue.
I think any 'holdback' was simply him following his own Powell Doctrine.
I don't think he feels a strong sense of loyalty to Bush or his administration, and frankly with good reason from his perspective. To say Powell was thrown under the bus doesn't really express the depth of which he was first betrayed by his enemies within.
If you are in the mood to make excuses for his actions on some of the items I have objected to, you could say he was a little gun-shy to set himself for yet more attacks from the Right. But that is part of my point. If he wants to lead out of the wilderness, then he has to face Hamlet's choice:
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?