WI: The first black president was a Republican?
- Thread starter thenewfoundlander1993
- Start date
Wha? He was a socialist, for God's sake! Not a card-carrying Socialist, but a socialist who believed in equality.
He may have been a Republican because he lived in the South, where Democrats were the racist type that later became Republican. But he voted Democratic in national elections. And you're right. He was a socialist, which is the point that many conservatives seem to be missing. They hear "Republican" and assume that he would agree with everything in the modern-day Republican platform.
If I am wrong about any of that, sorry. Please correct me.
Cook
Banned
I don’t think anyone’s ever said it would be a certainty, but Powell in ’94-95 was very popular, was seen as eloquent, dynamic, a generation younger than Bob Dole and a happily married family man. That’s your starting base, then you add war hero who has just restored American pride for the conservative side of it, and African-American with some quite liberal views for the swing voters. He would certainly have been a much more competitive challenger than Dole was. At the very least it would have been a decently entertaining election, instead of being one of the dullest in living memory.
Well, there's this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell#Potential_presidential_candidate
ANd there is my personal experience as a right wing Republican. Several of my friends were big fans of POwell.
Personally I found him to moderate, but I certainly found him more exciting than Dole, and I volunteered on the Dole campaign!
Still got the T-shirt.
"The Team to Beat."
What a f**king stupid slogan.
Well, there's this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Powell#Potential_presidential_candidate
ANd there is my personal experience as a right wing Republican. Several of my friends were big fans of POwell.
Personally I found him to moderate, but I certainly found him more exciting than Dole, and I volunteered on the Dole campaign!
Still got the T-shirt.
"The Team to Beat."
What a f**king stupid slogan.
Assuming Powell did run and became president in 1996, aside from Dole who would have likely been a suitable running mate out of those who declined to run during the Republican primaries?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_primaries,_1996
Mmm, I wonder, he could either go with a conservative to bolster himself with the base, or double down on moderation, while trusting that his military background and association with Reagan would carry the day with the conservatives.
Pete Wilson was from California...
Not to like crap on your evidence, but just as a counterpoint, it's easier to be popular when you haven't been in the race having mud slung at you and a spotlight on all your opinions for months. I think Cook described how he was probably thought of by a lot of people - Black republican hero family man. Once he runs through the election grinder, the picture would be different - like those polls taken recently that showed Hillary Clinton could win Texas in 2016. I don't think that's likely, but right now she's just "Wow what an accomplished and dignified secretary of state, and gee remember the 90s? Good times." The good feelings won't last, to that extent, past the first round of attack ads.
Which is silly. Clinton won't go down easily, and Powell is a political amateur by comparison.
Sure, he would likely lose some ground in a real campaign. But it shows what a strong position he starts from, if ATL he decides to enter.
Deleted member 16736
I like the J.C. Watts idea. Ideally you could have him stick around the house for another two years, run for and win the open senate seat in 2004, and have Kerry beat Bush that same year. By 2008 you have a Black Republican Senator with almost a decade and a half of experience in politics who is socially and fiscally conservative running against the most boring man in America during, probably, the start of a financial meltdown. Really, so long as he doesn't pick a Palin-esque running mate he should win in a walk.
Arguably so was Eisenhower.
But no, it wouldn't be a walk, far from it. I still see a win for Powell, but it won't be the landslide everyone was predicting at the time, especially if you are still throwing Perot or Lamm into the mix.
Eisenhower was also, well, Eisenhower. Being the man who liberated Western Europe from the Nazis gives you a kind of star power only Elvis or the Beatles could match.
Although one thing to point out: just because Powell and Ike were generals didn't mean they were slouches when it came to handling politics. You don't get that high up in the US military without at least some understanding of politicking and maneuvering and both men were responsible for keeping some pretty diverse international coalitions together giving them additional experience.
That said it doesn't mean Powell is going to get through the election unscathed; he definitely had some skeletons in his closet and beating Saddam Hussein isn't in the same tier IMO as beating Hitler. If Clinton wins it would be a tight squeaker.
But Powell was Powell! Being the man that won a major war in 100 hours gives you a type of star power only Micheal Jackson or Madonna could match!
But Powell was Powell! Being the man that won a major war in 100 hours gives you a type of star power only Micheal Jackson or Madonna could match!
Even if you assume that the popularity is nearly equal, Eisenhower also had the benefit of an running against a party who had been in power for 20 years, with the nation bogged down in war, and whose incumbent President, who declined to run, was as popular as George W. Bush in 2008. In 1996, Powell will be running against peace & prosperity, and the first Democratic President since the 1970s.
Powell was not going to run. He was asked in an interview some years ago if his wife made him decide not to run, which is the common narrative. He said no, he did not want to run. So Powell is therefore a non-factor in this discussion.