The conventional wisdom holds that John McCain should lean to his right in making his choice for a vice presidential candidate. This wisdom is completely wrong. Most of the names being bandied about would make terrible choices for McCain. I don't claim to be a political expert in the manner of Dick Morris, but I think the best choice for McCain would be Colin Powell.
Yes, Colin Powell. And here are the reasons why. First, Powell has an independent mind. He is not a captive of the right, and consequently he reinforces the public perception that McCain is not a pawn of Bush. True, Powell served in the Bush administration, but his disagreements with Bush are well known. Obama is trying to portray McCain as a Bush clone. Powell will help McCain convince independent voters--the ones he needs most--that his administration would not constitute a third Bush term.
Second, Powell has experience. The man has served honorably and responsibly in more high positions than Obama and all the other Democratic candidates combined. Moreover, Powell has gravitas while Obama merely has the gift of the gab. So Powell helps to highlight how green and goofy Obama really is. The point is not to contrast one African American with another, or to show how Powell like Obama has immigrant roots. Rather, it is to dissolve the race issue by showing that capability and experience, not race and skin color, are the real issues here.
Finally, who apart from the Obamorons can doubt that Powell would make a capable president? This is especially important given the fact that McCain is over seventy. A Powell choice would also reinforce the big question about the man at the top of the Democratic ticket: Is he ready? I am not going to say that Obama can never be a good president, but I seriously doubt that he is mature enough to climb into the saddle. Who would you trust--Powell or Obama--to better handle a national emergency?
Now all of this could be idle speculation, because Powell may not want to be vice president. I keep hearing about how his wife is so completely against the idea. But this could be one of McCain's first tasks: to persuade Powell to do it. This wouldn't be the first time that this soldier has been asked to put personal considerations second and to take on a great challenge for the future of his country.
Reader Comments ( Page 13 of 13)
181. Before you guys jump on the Powell bandwagon, in an attempt to sooth some of your own bigoted misgivings, I'd like to point out, that Colin Powell either led the charge into Iraq, or allowed himself to be used by Bush, to further its aganda, in either case, he would be a poor candidate for VP. Need more proof? Read the story about My Lai 4. American would not tolerate having a man in office who was responsible for initiating the coverup.
Obama 2008 at 8:51PM on Jun 20th 2008
182. But I'm sure if you peruse the crime stats at fbi.gov, you'll be pleased to see that you have a comfortable lead over Whites in murder.
xxx
Yeah, for now, but how do we KEEP it? The more fundamentalist yall gets, the more you breeds.
What if they add Iraqi citizens to the total? How do we stop that? There's no international rules committee.
Just another example of whitey keepin' the black man down!
They shoot up the steroids to fuck up Aaron's records and now this.
They're still miles ahead on price fixing and slumlording.
Why can't the white man EVER be satisfied in his place?
Clif Kuplen at 6:02PM on Jun 20th 2008
183. Hi, I´m writing from Colombia and I´d like to comment that many of these views are solely centered on the U.S. domestic scenario, focusing more on the mere personal liking or disliking of this two public figures. But look at the big picture, on the foreign policy arena, where U.S. weaknesses are more obvious.
That´s where the John McCain/Colin Powell ticket would make more sense. Both are experienced and tried by fire, and to the WORLD they wouldn´t necessarily mean a third Bush term, but an honest attempt to correct the mistakes of the Bush administration.
Believe me, IT´S TRUE LEADERSHIP THE WORLD NEEDS, and whether you like it or not, if Obama were to sit in front of Ajmadinejad, Castro, Chávez or Jong Il, he´s going to look so SMALL and humble that nothing coming out of his mouth would make any difference. Just like the well-intentioned Chamberlain looked in Hitler´s times.
The threats faced by today´s world and the western hemisphere are so HUGE that we need common sense and a strong diplomacy.
An economic war is being waged upon us here in Latin America by the raising Asian giants, and if we´re being already impoverished, think of your auto industry in shambles because they lack STRONG LEADERSHIP.
It´s not protectionism that needs to be applied but effective leadership to reconvert your industries in making them more competitive, sharing some of your workload with us here in Latin America, so illegal immigration can be deterred with solutions, not barriers. WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO BE EFFICIENT AND PROFITABLE AGAIN. Let´s face it : we´ve become lazy and our sorry situation is nobody´s fault but our own.
I think terrorism should be fought more decissively and our determination shouldn´t be questioned; a zero tolerance policy against it should be enforced. There is no ETHNIC, RELIGIOUS or POLITICAL reason to justify it. And a McCain/Powell formula would also send this message.
The democrats have chosen poorly betting all their chips between the Charisma card and the "Glamour" card of the Clintons who, believe me from the distance, they´re no Kennedys. Obama is not a bad person and certainly his constituents must be more than pleased. He´s well intentioned but LACKS LEADERSHIP. That makes him the WRONG man for the job. Just like Bush. And picking the WRONG man is only going to be noticed under the WORST circumstances. Just like Bush. Republicanism as a whole failed here, not because it´s evil as some paranoid Liberal mongers roar, but because it was blinded by the WRONG CHOICE. It´s the WRONG PERSON making the wrong decissions and appointing the WRONG people, once he´s onboard. That´s shown under the WORST adversities (9-11, Katrina, Tokio protocol, Unilateralism in launching the Iraq campaign).
Powell was dragged unfortunately into this and at one point, he left wisely. In fact, he DISCREETLY took distance from this administration´s mess, and the people is so aware of it that his credentials remain impeccable.
The good thing about these two leaders is that both acknowledge negative criticism just as destructive as the errors already made, and that a corrective way out is needed. A McCain/Powell formula should (and would) build more consensus internationally ¿How about appointing Joe Lieberman as Scy. Of State? THAT´S PRACTISING ELEGANT DIPLOMACY. That´s a whole lot more than the empty charge of ultra-optimistic-wishful "Yes, we can" hot air rethoric.
In serious cinema, biographic epics should be played by REAL ACTORS. Look-alikes only account for bad movies. It´s the same in politics. We may not like what we hear from McCain, or the way he looks but deep inside WE KNOW he´s right.
César Augusto Martínez Suárez at 1:33PM on Jun 21st 2008
184. It´s the same in politics. We may not like what we hear from McCain, or the way he looks but deep inside WE KNOW he´s right.
xxx
yes. extreme past the lip of the bell shaped curve right.
By and large, Americans are not interested in any sort of free trade agreement with a country like Colombia for what must be a thousand obvious reasons. To summarize, many of us don't buy from the homeboys shopping network, and your country's failure to comply with the ideology of freedom taints your products just as surely as though they had been stolen, because in reality, you do take more than price for your products.
We both know how and why, don't we?
As to free trade with your country, nuts to that!
Clif Kuplen at 4:11PM on Jun 23rd 2008