Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510100091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who lives in McLean, launched a five-week publicity tour for his autobiography there last month.
Powell is black, and some admirers consider the popular figure a potential racial healer. He has said the best route would be as a Republican if he chooses to run.
But some Virginia GOP conservatives told the Richmond Times-Dispatch they do not want to swap certain party principles for Powell's popularity.
Morton Blackwell, a veteran Northern Virginia GOP strategist and Republican National Committee member, said conservative friends who have said nice things about a potential Powell candidacy ``have taken leave of their senses.''
Blackwell said Powell calls himself a ``Rockefeller Republican'' and ``that, in my judgment, is enough to disqualify him for a Republican nomination.''
Patrick McSweeney, the Virginia GOP chairman, said he opposes ``the politics of celebrity. I think it's extremely dangerous. This is an example of it.''
``Even if he's getting 99 percent [at the polls], we don't throw off what we've run on for 16 years or more to get a candidate who is popular at the moment ... because of a vague impression voters have developed,'' McSweeney said.
``We need to know core values'' that Powell holds and more about his stands on the issues, McSweeney said.
Jim Miller, former Reagan administration budget director and a candidate for the GOP Senate nomination in 1996, called Powell a ``super human being'' but not someone Miller would support for president.
Miller backs Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas.
On many issues outside the defense and foreign policy arena, ``when he says something, it sort of rings with a lack of conviction,'' Miller said. He also pointed to his differences with Powell on abortion and other issues.
Powell has voiced views on such issues as abortion, affirmative action and welfare that differ from those of many conservatives.
R. Jefferson Garnett of Louisa County, the 4th District Republican chairman and a supporter of GOP presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, said some of Powell's views are more in line with Democrats than Republicans.
``I think the next GOP nominee for president will be a conservative across the board. That is, a constitutional conservative, an economic conservative and a cultural conservative. And I don't believe that Colin Powell fits that bill,'' he said.
Mike Farris, a conservative who ran for lieutenant governor in 1993, said Powell's views on social issues ``would alienate about a third of the Republican coalition.'' Farris is a national co-chairman for Buchanan's campaign.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., who supports the presidential candidacy of Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, nonetheless praised Powell.
``I simply say he is eminently qualified to be president of the United States,'' Warner said.
Keywords:
POLITICS
Memo: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.