Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-10975360-20140613150705/@comment-32656-20140626092112

Called a campaign: Guess what kinds of things come out in them? Would be much more well known very fast.

Wrong about the anti movement. Was pretty strong even then. Stronger, in many ways, actually.

You commit a grievous error by both comparing Powell and Eisenhower, and making such a comment about generals. On the contrary, most generals that try for office get nowhere near it.

Both the nation and the Republican party were vastly different in 1952, compared to the 1990s. Left-wing Republicans existed in fair numbers, back then, and they were mostly moderate northerners. Conservatives in the party were mostly from the north too, and were mostly financial conservatives.

From the 1970s onward, that flips. No more "left" ones, and a much smaller amount of moderates - in addition to being concentrated in the south, with more of an emphasis on social conservatism.

You know this already. Ike was elected in the 1950s, prior to the switch - had he been running even a decade later, he'd have been a Democrat, given the political switch.

Moderate Republicans have had to run to the "right" of their actual positions in primaries for a long time. McCain, Romney, Ford, Dole... list goes on. Those that do not, fail. Only the ones more on the "right" have been really electable over the years.

The members of that party, since the "switch," that are on the left fringe of it, have failed on every occasion, to be nominated. Giuliani, Huntsman, Specter and Stassen being examples. Powell is another member of this group.

As we found with Kerry and Clark in 2004, and McCain in 2000 and 2008, military records matter little - something that 2008 gives more credit to, vis-a-vis Obama and McCain.

Numerous times generals have lost both elections and nominations. Powell having been a general is irrelevant.

He would only have the support of part of the establishment.

Again, Goldwater was part of the party moderates. And neither Bush, in fact, was part of that group.

Powell would have no chance of winning the Republican nomination. That simple. Ironically enough, though, were he a Democrat he'd win that one easily.

Not as good a pick as you think, actually - their economic ideas clash.