“He should have focused on the economy … to the exclusion of most everything else domestically,” Powell told CNN’s Larry King. “When you’re starting out as a president, you have to figure out (what) is most important.”…

He also offered mixed reviews of former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, calling her a “fascinating individual, … a political celebrity (and) a political force.” Powell said that her positions were “very populist, but they are not very specific as to what she would cut and what she would eliminate.”