Powell cautions against a GOP slide to the rightThe former secretary of State aims his remarks at conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh, who he says is stifling debate on the party's future.Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell warned Sunday that ideological conservatives, particularly radio commentator Rush Limbaugh, had gained a hold over the Republican Party that
risked driving the GOP into an extended exile from power.
Powell cast his warnings in unusually personal terms as he answered recent charges from two champions of the Republican right -- Limbaugh and former Vice President Dick Cheney -- that he was no longer a Republican.
"Rush will not get his wish, and Mr. Cheney was misinformed," said Powell, whose resume includes military advisor to President Reagan, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush, and secretary of State under George W. Bush. "I am still a Republican."
Powell, a moderate who has been featured prominently over the years by GOP candidates trying to broaden their appeal, repeatedly clashed with Cheney during the George W. Bush administration. He bristled at critics' charge that he had left the party.
"Neither [Cheney] nor Rush Limbaugh are members of the membership committee of the Republican Party," Powell said. "I get to make my decision on that."
Powell's public retort adds to the often acrimonious conflict between Republican moderates and conservatives that has left some centrists feeling alienated.
Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, for example, became a Democrat last month after 28 years as a Republican senator. He cited GOP hostility to his vote in favor of President Obama's economic stimulus package, among other things. Maine's two moderate GOP senators -- Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe -- also have expressed misgivings about the atmosphere in the party.
Nor was Powell the only Republican moderate to caution the party Sunday. Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said on CNN’s “State of the Union” that if the GOP wanted "to restore itself, not as a regional party but as a national party, we have to be far less judgmental about disagreements within the party."
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He urged the party to undergo a wide-ranging "after-action review," saying its successive losses demonstrate a "leakage [that] cannot continue if the Republican Party is going to play a major role in the life of our country."
Powell cited polls showing plummeting numbers of people who identify themselves as Republicans, as well as the party's dwindling competitiveness in most of the country outside the South.
"The Republican Party has to take a hard look at itself and decide, what kind of party are we?" Powell said. "Are we simply moving farther to the right and by so doing simply opening up the right of center and the center to be taken over by independents and to be taken over by the Democrats?"
LINKSeveral interesting questions are stirred up by Powell's remarks. Who defines the Republican Party? If a Republican doesn't agree with the definition (too radical right, too moderate - either way), what are their reasonable options? If the radical right-wing extremists want to give the boot to anyone not robotically repeating their talking points and they succeed in getting rid of all of those folks, what power will they have left? Should just plain conservatives fight for the survival of the Republican Party? If they abandon the Republican Party but are definitely NOT comfortable joining the Democrats, then where do they go for power and representation?
I believe very strongly that the Republican Party must not fail. It is absolutely terrifying to think one block of power, one main attitude or philosophy, should be the only voice that voters have. I'm not 100% comfortable with the notion of the Democrats getting their 60 filibuster-proof majority. I understand that's going to happen but it ought to make democracy-loving Americans of any political persuasion feel at least a little bit squeamy if there's only ONE viable political party.
Will the right-wing extremists take the Republican Party down all the way? Don't they see how precarious their position is?
