It’s unfortunate that the man best suited to be president of the
United States won’t touch the job with a 10-foot pole.
During the recent Republican National Convention, millions of
Americans _ if they weren’t too busy watching the next houseguest get kicked
off “Big Brother” _ watched Texas Gov. George W. Bush accept his
party’s presidential nomination.
His speech, despite being shrouded in the warm-and-fuzzy
guise of “compassionate conservatism,”
was a yawner. Bush said the same things he’s been saying for months, only
this time to a mob of people sporting Stetsons and screaming
“Yeee haaaah!” every time Dubya took a swipe at the Clinton-Gore team.
Bush is about as electrifying as a discarded battery (of course,
Vice President Al Gore is no live wire, either). And while I believe Bush
wants to see a “kinder, gentler”
Republican Party, as his father might word it, it still has a long way to go before it
can shed its country-club, anti-tolerant image.
I hope those Americans who tuned in however briefly for Bush’s
speech watched the convention on its opening night. For taking the podium
was the country’s best chance of uniting its populace, a man who can
straddle the racial, economic and political divides that separate Americans.
It was former Gen. Colin Powell. But, like I said, he doesn’t want
the job.
Comparing Powell to Bush is like asking somebody which James
Bond movie they want to watch on TBS. Sure, Timothy Dalton is not
altogether horrible in “The Living Daylights,”
but I’d pick Sean Connery in
“Goldfinger” any day of the week and twice on
Sundays.
Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and national
security advisor to the White House, has said in the past that the stresses of
running for president would be too much to bear for his family, and he
lacked the passion for the job. He seems content to be chairman of
America’s Promise, an Alexandria, Va.based non-profit organization dedicated
to “strengthening the character and competence” of girls and boys across
the country, as it states on its Web site.
Watching him thunder away at the Republican National Convention as
he chastised party members for prostrating themselves before
special-interest groups, I couldn’t help but think
that a man brazen enough to hold his own party over the fire would be a
good commander in chief in 2004, especially in an era when polling
numbers decide public policy.
And then there’s the I-word conservatives have been throwing
around like so many pieces of parade candy: integrity. President Clinton’s
political barker, James Carville, was right eight years ago when he
famously squawked: “It’s the economy,
stupid.” American factories are humming along at unprecedented paces,
jobs grow as if on the proverbial tree and despite the federal government’s
threat to turn Microsoft Corp. into a five-and-dime operation, Bill Gates still
has enough money to buy the entire Southern Hemisphere.
But during this economic explosion, Clinton, through a series of
incredibly dubious and downright deplorable acts, managed to one-up
the financial good times and make the Oval Office the punchline of jokes
told at watercoolers throughout the country. In fact, it got so bad, former
Vice President Dan Quayle thought he could run for president.
Bush said the Clinton administration, and the seeming incessant
messes its gotten itself into, was time
“squandered.” But would electing the
Texas governor to the highest office in the land usher in a new Golden Age
of American politics? In one word: fugettaboudit.
Can a man who oversees more criminals put to death than any
other state in the nation really put the “compassion” in compassionate
conservatism? Can a man who trumpets education even though many in his
state say he has done nothing to improve kindergarten and
prekindergarten funding really change the way the
educational system deals with students?
That’s not to say Powell holds a magic bullet for the societal ills
faced by many Americans. But with his persona comes a sense of consensus.
Republicans like him, independent voters like him, and even Democrats
like him, with former GOP Chairman Rich Bond going so far as to say, “Al
Gore would die and go to heaven if he could get Colin Powell to stand behind
him and his campaign.”
This becomes especially important at a time when more Americans
would prefer to take in an arena football game than go vote. In the past two
elections, Clinton hasn’t garnered more than 50 percent of the national ballots. It
won’t get much better if the more cynical members of the voting public
continue to; A) stay at home, or B) vote for their pet rock.
Americans’ displeasure with Republicans and Democrats across
the political spectrum is so bad that if Minnesota Gov. Jesse “The
Body” Ventura were to enter the race, the nation might have to hold a
runoff election _ or stage the first-ever WWF “Elect This! Fall Brawl” _ to
decide the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
As a soldier, general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we
know Powell has had to make tough decisions in his life. As chairman
of America’s Promise, we know he speaks to parents’ concerns about
the future of their children. As an African-American, we know he epitomizes
the dreams of many who have had to endure generations-old racism and
inequality.
As an American, we know he has risen above adversity to earn the
respect of people the world over.
I hope he finds the passion before 2004. As people become
increasingly disillusioned with the current state
of politics, I think his services will be needed more than ever before.
Rochford is the editor at the Snoqualmie Valley Record. You
can send comments to him at editor1@valleyrecord.com, or
by mail at P.O. Box 300, Snoqualmie, WA 98065.
