Say Anything Blog

Which is all well and good, I guess.  He can call himself a Republican all he wants.  Lots of very liberal people do, from John McCain to John Huntsman (Utah governor recently turned Obama’s ambassador to China) to Lindsey Graham and (until recently) Arlen Specter.

That doesn’t change what he really is.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Secretary of State Colin Powell struck back Sunday at critics of his decision to support Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy last year.

Calling for his divided party to widen its ranks, Powell declared, “I am still a Republican.”

In an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation, Powell responded to attacks from former Vice President Dick Cheney and talk show host Rush Limbaugh, saying they are “not members of the membership committee of the Republican Party.”

“Rush will not get his wish, and Mr. Cheney was misinformed. I am still a Republican”, he said. “I would like to point out that in the course of my 50 years of voting for presidents, I have voted for the person I thought was best qualified at that time to lead the nation. Last year, I thought it was President Barack Obama. For the previous 20 years, I voted solidly for Republican candidates.”

I am tired of the debate over political labels.  I really don’t care about whether or not a given politician is a Democrat or a Republican or anything else.  What I care about is what people believe in.  I want politicians who will promote limited government, national security, lower taxes and increased liberty.  If the politician who does that is a Republican, great.  I’ll vote for him/her.  If it’s a Democrat, equally great.  I’ll vote for him/her.

In general I think that people who call themselves Republicans should actually promote limited government, national security, lower taxes and increased liberty.  Because that’s what the party’s platform is all about.  If Republicans were serious about promoting their own platform they’d tell people like Colin Powell that they shouldn’t call themselves Republicans since they don’t actually believe in the ideals Republicanism is supposed to be predicated on.

But Republicans won’t do that.  Because they’re more concerned with winning political football games than promoting an ideology.