A Tale of Two Generals: Clark versus Powell [View All]

[dolstein]

A lot of people are asking themselves whether Clark is really a Democrat. Well, how many people are still asking themselves whether Powell's really a Republican? Even though he obviously disagrees with the Bush administration on many things, Powell's a team player. He's chosen sides and he's not going to switch. And it should be pretty obvious by now that Clark's chosen sides too. And though I think Clark made the far wiser choice, I believe that choice, like Powell's, had much to do with happenstance.

Now this is pure speculation on my part, but I suspect that Clark could have ended up as a Republican. And Powell could have ended up as a Democrat. They're both pro-choice. They're both pro-affirmative action. They moderates on economic policy and internationalists on foreign policy. The Democratic Party would have welcomed Powell with open arms, just as the Republican Party would have welcomed Clark (don't let their current attacks fool you -- you can bet they wouldn't be saying these things if Clark had decided to become a Republican).

I suspect that Powell became a Republican because it served his needs at the time. He was interested in a high level foreign policy position, not the presidency, and he had a better working relationship with the foreign policy team in the first Bush administration than he had with Clinton. It's also worth noting that at the time Powell was trying to decide whether he was a Republican or a Democrat, Gore didn't seem to have much of a chance of getting elected. It's interesting to ponder what might have happened if there had been no Lewinsky scandal, and Gore looked like a shoe-in. Could Powell have hitched a ride with the Gore express? Definitely.

It's also interesting to speculate about what might have happened to Clark if the Iraq invasion had never happened, or if he'd been offered a position in the Bush administration. While I don't think Clark became a Democrat out of spite, I also don't think Clark would have turned down a choice spot in the Bush administration had he been offered one. Instead, fate conspired to keep Clark's options open long enough for world events to sharpen in his mind the differences between the two parties. This time fortune smiled upon the Democrats.