Powell Drops the Hammer on McCain

The scene is "Meet the Press" on Sunday. Tom Brokaw has just asked Colin Powell if he is prepared to say whether he is supporting John McCain, to whom he has contributed money, or Barack Obama, whom Powell has told he will not support "just because you're black."

Powell is, indeed, prepared to say whom he is supporting. And he does so for the next seven minutes and eight seconds, a lifetime on television, which Brokaw has the wisdom not to interrupt.

Speaking with neither anger nor malice, Powell's words nonetheless fall like hammer blows on McCain.

"I found that he was a little unsure as to (how to) deal with the economic problems that we were having and almost every day there was a different approach to the problem," Powell says of McCain.

And that is a concern, Powell says, because McCain doesn't seem to have a "complete grasp" of our economic difficulties.

Sarah Palin?

"I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States, which is the job of the vice president," Powell says. "And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made."

You keeping score? McCain doesn't understand the economic crisis, is erratic, is trying to foist an unqualified vice president on the nation and has shown questionable judgment.

Can it get worse? It gets worse.

Powell, who is of the same generation as McCain (he is a year younger), of the same party and of the same military background, criticizes McCain for his negative campaigning, for being "narrow," and for aiding and abetting the "rightward shift" in Republican politics.

And then there is the Supreme Court. "I would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, but that's what we'd be looking at in a McCain administration," Powell says.

Powell is a Republican, but a Republican who is troubled when he hears "senior members of my own party" suggest that Obama is "a Muslim and he might be associated (with) terrorists."

"This is not the way we should be doing it in America," Powell says and then continues with a poignant defense of American Muslims and points out that some are buried in Arlington National Cemetery, having given their lives for their country.

Powell concludes by saying that he is voting for Obama not just because of Obama's "ability to inspire" but because "he has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president. I think he is a transformational figure."

That Powell would endorse Obama was not entirely shocking — their politics are not far apart — but the breadth and depth of Powell's criticism of McCain was a surprise.

Perhaps it should not have been.

The scene is a Ramada hotel in Alexandria, Va. It is Nov. 8, 1995. Colin Powell is leading in the polls for the Republican nomination for president, even though he has not announced whether he will run. He has written a highly successful book, gone on a promotional tour and has even appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." (Leno asks Powell whether his first name should be pronounced "collin" or "colon." Powell replies that he would prefer to be called "Skip.")

Now, Powell has called a press conference to announce his plans. I get there 90 minutes early and there are already more than 100 reporters and 29 TV cameras in the ballroom. The buzz is that Powell will launch his presidential campaign this day.

But he surprises. He says he will not run. He says that while he has demonstrated "passion and commitment" in his past jobs — chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Security Adviser, Army general — he has no such passion for "political life."

He says that if he had decided to run, he would have done "fairly well," but he is troubled by what presidential campaigning has become in this country.

"We all should be concerned over the nature of attack, ad hominem attack designed to destroy character," Powell says. He says that candidates should draw the line when it comes to "incivility."

"Don't give up on the political process; fix it," Powell says. "It's a great system. It just needs tidying up."

Thirteen years later, it does not seem very tidy.

The scene is the Straight Talk Express, the old Straight Talk Express, in 1999, the one stuffed with reporters asking John McCain question after question and getting answer after answer hour after hour. McCain is enjoying himself, even when the reporters, having exhausted all serious topics, turn goofy and play "Favorites" with him, asking him his favorite tree (cottonwood), favorite breakfast cereal (Raisin Bran) and favorite toothpaste (Colgate).

And then there is this exchange that I recorded for history:

Favorite word, a reporter asks.

"Principle," McCain says.

Favorite dead hero.

"Uh, Julius Caesar," McCain says.

Favorite dead hero within the last 2,000 years.

"OK, off the top of my head, Lincoln," McCain says. "Although the more I read and study, the more intrigued I am by Teddy Roosevelt."

Favorite living hero.

"Colin Powell," McCain says instantly. "Served his country. A wonderful man."

Today, McCain may wish to revise and extend his remarks.

To find out more about Roger Simon, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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