He’s not alone in expressing that Obama is doing too much too soon, but his voice definitely carries more weight because he may have done more to swing independents and moderates towards the President than anybody else last year.

From AP:

“The right answer is, ‘Give me a government that works,’” the former secretary of state said in a television interview to be aired Sunday. “Keep it as small as possible,” added Powell, who said he has spoken recently with Obama and stays in touch with him. Powell, a Republican, endorsed Obama last year over the GOP presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Obama wants to overhaul the health care system and take on climate change while also helping the country emerge from the recession.

“I think one of the cautions that has to be given to the president – and I’ve talked to some of his people about this – is that you can’t have so many things on the table that you can’t absorb it all. And we can’t pay for it all,” Powell said.

“And I never would have believed that we would have budgets that are running into the multi-trillions of dollars, and we are amassing a huge, huge national debt that, if we don’t pay for in our lifetime, our kids and grandkids and great grandchildren will have to pay for it.”

Powell’s words aren’t lost on me, but let’s look at what Obama’s facing:

• Two wars,
• the near collapse of our financial system,
• a deep recession,
• once-in-generation unemployment,
• a genuine threat of deflation,
• unstable energy costs,
• global warming,
• unsustainable health care costs,
• a crumbling infrastructure,
• a failing education system,
• North Korea, Iran, Russia, Sudan,
• and I’m sure I’m missing something else.

So while I understand the concerns of my Independent and Republican friends, the price to fix these problems will only continue to go up while the likelihood that we’ll be able to reach a legislative consensus on how to fix them will go down.

However…

Shifting gears for a moment, and I’m talking to Republicans specifically now…do you want to win in 2012?

Well, here’s your guy. He can take the party in a sustainable direction. I don’t know that he’d run, but if he did he would crush all other GOPers with the swing voters.

And let’s be very clear…McCain didn’t lose Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina because the base didn’t show up. The voting demographics are shifting, and unless the GOP can field a candidate with mass appeal, well, it’s going to be a long bumpy ride in 2012 and 2016.

Just food for thought…

Following up on the previous post…here’s the video of Powell questioning Palin’s wisdom when she talked about “small town values.”

I always thought that the whole “Real America” talk was remarkably dumb because it alienated more voters than it drew in…and I’m glad to see that Powell shares that view.

What’s more, the GOP often romanticizes the small town as if it was some utopia away from the troubles of their big, bad dysfunctional urban counterparts. And yet if you’ve been to small town America lately, nearly every single person living there is reliant on the government because our agricultural backbone is heavily subsidized. Apparently that irony is lost on folks like Palin.

And as far as dysfunctional goes, well, that’s a human condition and it runs rampant in both places. I used to go hunting with my grandfather in northern Missouri near Brookfield and Kirksville and you would not believe the conditions some people live in. It’s tragic actually. But I’ve been there, I’ve seen it with my own eyes and, like Powell said, the GOP needs to wake up and start realizing that instead of portraying America in a completely unrealistic light.

Moving on…

The most important endorsement of the 2008 Election speaks out about why he thinks the Republicans lost by such a significant margin.

From CNN:

In an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria for Sunday’s “GPS” program, President Bush’s former secretary of state said his party’s attempt “to use polarization for political advantage” backfired last month.

“There is nothing wrong with being conservative. There is nothing wrong with having socially conservative views — I don’t object to that. But if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority.” [...]

“I think the party has to stop shouting at the world and at the country,” Powell said. “I think that the party has to take a hard look at itself, and I’ve talked to a number of leaders in recent weeks and they understand that.” Powell, who says he still considers himself a Republican, said his party should also stop listening to conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

“Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?” Powell asked. “Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?”

Question: in 2016 could Powell be a viable GOP candidate who could help unite the party again?

Yeah, I know it’s a long shot, but I don’t think there’s any more respected political figure in the country than Powell and he could be a new model for the party; one that completely breaks away from polarizing figures like Limbaugh and reclaims a more sensible platform.

Probably not, but just a thought.