Frum: How can our party not be big enough for one of our most successful generals?
posted at 8:34 pm on May 12, 2009 by Allahpundit
The comments to this one should be fun. Say this much for Frum: He’s a bottom-line kind of guy. He doesn’t care how he gets to 51 percent, just as long as he gets there — even if it means embracing a guy who’s now noisily in favor of bigger government. His point, I guess, is simply that Cheney should have done a better job hedging the question about Limbaugh vs. Powell. No need to take the latter’s side, but no need to excommunicate him either by wondering aloud if voting for Obama is tantamount to rescission of one’s membership in the GOP.
Note his endorsement of Charlie Crist near the end. Maverick’s already on board the Crist express, too, as a quid pro quo for his endorsement before the Florida primary last year. That Crist/Rubio showdown really is going to be a death match between moderates and conservatives — and, if it plays out like I expect, between the party establishment and the grassroots. Ugly stuff, but bloggy gold!
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To the larger issue: a lot more people indentify as conservative than liberal. And more people identify as conservative than Republican. Does that mean the Republicans would get larger or smaller if they attracted more conservatives?
The truth is, if the GOP wasn’t seen as liberal-lite, they’d attract enough conservatives to win.
hawksruleva on May 13, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Powell left the WH and Cheney hanging out to dry in the Plame/Libby fiasco. I’m sure Cheney shares my opinion of a SoS that allows his #2 man, affectionately known as UGO to Fitzgerald, to remain silent while Bush, Cheney, Libby and Rove twisted in the wind, all the while knowing UGO did it. I have no use for Powell. His integrity is lacking, IMO and he endorsed a democrat for president. They can have him. I doubt they want him anymore than they want Specter.
Sue on May 13, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Why bother voting for the R when it’s a RINO metrosexual wuss like Charlie Crist.
I voted for him years ago… long before he adopted the entire Democratic platform and got on his knees before Dear Leader.
rockbend on May 13, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Powell is the epitome of affirmative action. Schwartzkopf was in command on the ground in the First Gulf War. Powell was snug in the WH with the other Chiefs of Staff. It was Powell that wouldn’t ley Schwartzkopf go to Baghdad. Powell is a politician first, warrior second
Bevan on May 13, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Hawksrule, that’s Ann Coulter’s thesis, anyway.
What is fascinating to me? Powell has made it very clear that he’s not remotely interested. This entire discussion is moot.
More inane babbling from the chattering class.
AnninCA on May 13, 2009 at 10:40 AM
I’m sure this point has already been made upthread, but the Republican Party didn’t throw Powell out of the tent. He left on his own, presumably owing to philosophical differences with the Bush administration. He’s obviously happier and more comfortable with the Dems; his world view is more in line with theirs. How is this the GOP’s fault?
NoLeftTurn on May 13, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Because he left the party, tool!
vapig on May 13, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Would it not be a better question if it were phrased, “how can our party be big enough to include Frum?”
burt on May 13, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Powell supported LBJ, the biggest “waste taxpayer money on growing the welfare class and rewarding lazyness” candidate ever. Then Powell supported Obama, the other huge “waste taxmayer money on growing the welfare class and rewarding lazyness” candidate.
He is no Republican or consevative. Let him go to the democrat dogs.
saiga on May 13, 2009 at 11:30 AM
The GOP ignored messages like this and told the conservatives to get out of the tent.. and the conservatives showed the GOP what they thought of it in 2008. It’s beginning to look like 2010 will be the same.
It’s time for a “TEA” Party.
popularpeoplesfront on May 13, 2009 at 11:32 AM
So should Republicans accept anyone who endorsed Obama? This is why these RINO’s need to go, they are 5th columnists.
Elric66 on May 13, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Is the party big enough for the general? Sure. Is he big enough for us? Doubtful.
Geez, David. The mutt voted for Obama. How did you think we were going to react?
pabarge on May 13, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Well said…
I’ll never forget the day we were told to stop… we are all just floored.
Romeo13 on May 13, 2009 at 11:38 AM
I’m sure somebody’s already said this, but:
WE DIDN’T LEAVE HIM, HE LEFT US.
If he was ever with us in the first place.
misterpeasea on May 13, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Persoanlly I think all the “supposed” Republicans who supported/voted for Obama should have their GOP credentials tagged as being under review.
katiejane on May 13, 2009 at 11:39 AM
In the election of 1864, as the Civil War raged on, President Lincoln found himself running against another “perceived successful” and popular general…George McClellan. McClellan would have fit nicely into the modern Democratic Party. The Democratic platform included selling out the Union for a negotiated peace “at any cost.” Some things never change. There was no room in the Republican Party then for a “popular” general and there should be no room now. At least McClellan had the guts to declare what he was.
sdd on May 13, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Why isn’t POWELL asked the question?
POWELL got his position in the WH due to his ethnicity, not his intellect or competency.
I knew of the General who was next in line for the position and Powell got pushed ahead of him. He has since passed away.
PappaMac on May 13, 2009 at 11:54 AM
That’s kind of like wondering if committing murder is tantamount to recission of one’s membership in the group of citizens who are non-murderers, isn’t it?
Blacklake on May 13, 2009 at 12:01 PM
That, my friends, is the answer in a nutshell.
stevelockridge on May 13, 2009 at 12:03 PM
This is quite simple. He voted for Obama so out he goes. Nuff said.
Hammerhead on May 13, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Are we still debating this?! Didn’t the first few years of the Iraq War show that going to Baghdad wouldn’t necessarily have been a good tactical choice in 1991?
YYZ on May 13, 2009 at 12:15 PM
It would have been much easier in ’91. The world saw Iraq as much more of a threat back then and would have backed the play much more so than when ended up going in.
Sultanofsham on May 13, 2009 at 12:33 PM
Rush Limbaugh is right, Frum is wrong. We need to get back to our conservative core values like we did in the Pres Reagan area. That’s what wins elections. Accordingly, we need to dump “moderate” Harvey Milquetoast’s like Powell and ignore idiots like Frum. Powell wasn’t one of our greatest generals; he was a political opportunist in a general’s uniform.
As for Charlie Crist, I held my nose and voted for him, figuring anything’s better than the Demmycrat they had running. But once he got in, he’s been in bed with the enviro-fascists and been pushing for bigger government. Those are hardly the actions of a conservative governor.
Did anyone notice that Crist didn’t come out in favor of Bush 2 rescinding the ban on offshore drilling off Florida’s east & west coasts? And Crist breathed a sigh of relief when Obama reinstated the offshore drilling ban within days of being enthroned.
Rubio’s getting my vote and a donation.
CatchAll on May 13, 2009 at 12:35 PM
Powell´s military success or lack of it is entirely irrelant. He is the one calling LOUDLY for a different party at every opportunity. He´s not going to stop if we embrace him. Has Frum suddenly forgotten why appeasement doesn´t work? Let me put it in terms Frum understands: conservatives are the Jews and Powell is Ahmadinedjad.
If Powell cannot find enough commonalities with any major poles of the Republican tent to momentarily cease bashing the party in public; if he cannot even keep himself from bashing it just before an election in which his moderate friend is the GOP candidate – then I´d say we´re off the hook. The burden to “bring him back” is not on the GOP.
Is it so hard to understand that being for mega-government should disqualify anyone for calling himself a Republican. And openly oozing contempt for conservatives does not make you a useful ally of conservatives. Is that logic too simple for Frum or too hard?
el gordo on May 13, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Maybe, but on the other hand, he had WMDs at the time.
YYZ on May 13, 2009 at 12:37 PM
Popularpeoplesfront
Buchanan is an anti-semite. The GOP would do well to disregard anything that comes from his pen.
annoyinglittletwerp on May 13, 2009 at 12:39 PM
It’s not that Frum voted for Obama, it’s just that, by spending the last two months before the election trashing Governor Palin as unfit for office with every breath, he might as well have voted for Obama.
Kensington on May 13, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Actually, the most recent stats still show that the Officers Corps in the military still skews 7 to 1 Republican. Smedley is the 1. Powell too, apparently.
Del Dolemonte on May 13, 2009 at 12:41 PM
It’s like asking, “why wouldn’t you want a big-screen TV”? The real question is, what are you willing to do to get it? Frum would gladly sell his soul — I, for one, would not.
littleguy on May 13, 2009 at 12:47 PM
FIFY.
platypus on May 13, 2009 at 12:57 PM
How can the party even consider throwing out a war hero just on the words of a war coward?
Monkei on May 13, 2009 at 1:03 PM
If that were the only reason, but it ain’t the only matter.
I loved the way Cheney put responsibility within a party back in Powell’s lap.
maverick muse on May 13, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Check this out, good insight into Crist’s timing his departure from Gov.FLA responsibilities to launch himself into Washington for the absolute pork fest, having completely plundered the coffers of FLA trusts, destabilizing FLA economic implosion to occur since no cut in spending and no raised taxes to cover the very real problems.
City Journal
Spring 2009 Vol.19 No.2
Nicole Gelinas
“Spendthrift Sunbelt States”
Arizona, Florida, and Nevada have run through the riches of their boom and are starting to look more like cash-strapped New York.
maverick muse on May 13, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Probably already been said (sorry not to have time to read all the comments), but the party Frum calls “our party” is not my party. I think his party is the RINO party. Or is it the Obama Republican party?
Christian Conservative on May 13, 2009 at 2:17 PM
Anyone that CNN has on regularly is no conservative.
faraway on May 13, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Hmmm, you should probably read alittle history before commenting on it. Try looking for examples of what happens when a power encourages a revolt, leaves the revolters out to dry, then comes in later and says ok now we are serious about supporting you. Then you can look for examples of what happens when a power encourages a revolt and then supports it to the end.
There are plenty of examples of both throughout history. Any will do and you’ll understand why “X+12 year was bad, therefore in X year it would have been just as bad” is a terrible argument in this case.
If that is too big a challenge for you, then just learn “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me”. The majority Iraqi Shiites sure understood it.
jarodea on May 13, 2009 at 5:13 PM
I should add YYZ that if you really take to your lesson you will likely also learn that Iraq wasn’t all that bad as far as counter-insurgency/pacification operations go. That and you may also pick up that the decision of whether to go to Baghdad or not wasn’t a “tactical” one.
jarodea on May 13, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Great observation. Hard to take his word for it that crapping on Specter is the end of the GOP, ain’t it?
Jaibones on May 13, 2009 at 5:32 PM
That’s a very arguable point you make. But Blake and others continue to state that Frum “endorsed” or “voted for” Obama, and nothing could be further from the truth. He was saying the same things about Obama that you and I were saying: inexperienced, leftist, fraud.
No, he wasn’t Palin’s biggest fan, and I think his ideas about the GOP are off-base.
Jaibones on May 13, 2009 at 5:42 PM
Frum needs to be followed, closely.
Somehow, there has got to be a link back to Obama.
Nobody could be this out-of-touch with reality.
He trashed another Republican, Sarah Palin, DURING the f’in election. You don’t do that.
Off with his head.
Sapwolf on May 13, 2009 at 9:46 PM
With a name like Frum I’d be careful of what I wrote. He sounds more like a frumpy broad whining about something he doesn’t understand. Colin who? The man was a Republican precisely because it was politically asute to be one…now his true colors can come out…wimpy, noodle general should just go to his real home: with the uberleft!!!
sharinlite on May 13, 2009 at 11:23 PM
Powell did not beat Saddam, Powell was the Chairman to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, an advisory position to the SecDef. Schwarzkopf beat Saddam. Since the Goldwater-Nichols Act of ‘86 the Chairman has actually no formal role overseeing combat operations.
Hansmeister on May 12, 2009 at 11:00 PM
I have to agree with Hansmeister, General Powell actually had very little actual command time, to those of you that are unaware of the phrase, that is time actually commanding troops. The large majority of his career was in a staff officer assignment. Think bureacrat or politically motivated reasoning.
“Stormin Norman” won that war and could have completed his mission in Irag if Gen. Powell hadn’t convinced GHW Bush otherwise.
While Gen Powell served our country admirably during his career he cannot be classified as “our most successful General”.
R H
Sergeant Major, USA, Retired
Sergeant Major on May 14, 2009 at 2:39 PM
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