Wednesday, April 2, 2008

General (and Future VP?) Colin Powell Is Coming To Town

Lost in the hullabaloo of Democratic presidential candidates and surrogates in Kentucky as of late is that a potential Republican vice presidential candidate will be here tomorrow. General Colin Powell is scheduled to speak at a Global Issues Forum presented by the World Affairs Council. The event will be held at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, starting at 6 p.m. Sorry, but you will need purchase a ticket (assuming any are still available) to attend.

Speculation continues to abound as to whether Powell is on McCain's short list and, more importantly, whether Powell would agree if McCain asked him to run as number two on the ticket. Mort Kondracke on a Fox News program last Saturday opined that McCain "should offer the Vice-Presidency to Colin Powell, who may well not take it." In a similar vein presidential historian Douglas Brinkley reportedly called Powell "the most reassuring person Senator McCain could pick" for his running mate. But others throw cold water on the idea. For example, the critique from Atlantic Online posted earlier today: "And for those who like to traffic in the Colin Powell speculation, remember two things: one – he disagrees with Sen. McCain about the way forward in Iraq. And two, he is 70 years old."

The Associated Press also reports today:

Sen. John McCain disclosed Wednesday he is in the "embryonic stages" of selecting a vice presidential running mate and hopes to unveil his choice before the Republican National Convention to avoid the type of problems that plagued Dan Quayle's debut two decades ago.

"It's every name imaginable" he said of his list-in-the-making, about 20 in all.

He disclosed none of them and declined even to identify the individuals he has approached to supervise the vetting.

If he isn't one of the undisclosed persons supervising the vetting, Powell is undoubtedly one of those 20 names. Tomorrow's event may be a good opportunity to gauge the General's current enthusiasm for remaining on that list.

Please note: The postings of "G. Morris", written by John K. Bush and which end in 2016, stated his views as of the dates of posting and should not be understood as current assertions of his views. The postings, which have not been altered since they came to an end, remain on this blog to preserve the historical record. In 2017, Mr. Bush took a position that precludes further public political comments or endorsements. He will no longer be contributing to this blog.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Here we find Brinkley is just as clueless as I've found far too many pundits in this last year who all equally share that distinction.


Fred Thompson would be McCain's only sane choice on so many different levels that I think even McCain will not be able to deny it.

Gun Trash said...

On no... I've enough problem with McCain's "conservatism". He was my 4th choice after Fred, Rudy, and Mitt. But, being a loyal GOPer I'll support him. However, I would really have to hold my nose next November if he chose Powell as his Veep.

Condie Rice, maybe? I'm not crazy with her efforts in creating a Palestinian state, but she'd be more palatable than Powell.