Powell Play?

Surprise, surprise - Colin Powell has announced his resignation as Secretary of State. We all know that over the past few years, Powell has come to be seen as a lone voice of sanity in the Bush administration's increasingly "Crazy in War" foreign policy. The real question is, will he run for President in 2008? The only article I could find today which mentioned the subject is in The Nation, where David Corn reports that a "source" tells him that Powell has no interest in running. Of course, the same source told him that Powell would stay on as Secretary of State for another term, so take his words with a grain of salt.

Powell would make an interesting candidate. It's not clear whether he'd be more or less attractive to voters than in 1996, when he declined to run. Certainly, swing voters might be more inclined to vote for him than Bush, given his more moderate stance on a variety of issues. However, while some might see him as the voice of reason in the Bush administration, others might agree with Corn that Powell should have been more forceful in pushing diplomacy as a viable option in Iraq. "If he truly believed the war in Iraq was misguided," writes Corn, "he had a duty to the public (his true boss) to speak out when it mattered. But Powell played the good soldier." But is it all a moot point? If Powell didn't in run eight years ago, when he was clearly the most attractive candidate the GOP had, why would he choose now to submit himself to a bitter battle against several viable contenders? Maybe if he feels the party is drifting in a dangerous direction and feels he's the only one who can save it.

In related news, the Bush administration has announced that Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, and Education Secretary Rod Paige will also be stepping down. They will be replaced by Halliburton CEO David Lesar (Energy), Rom Kellis, president of pesticide company Naturchem (Agriculture) and R&B star R. Kelly (Education).