WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday he no longer views Colin Powell as a Republican.
Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," Cheney was asked about a dispute between Powell - who was secretary of state in the Bush-Cheney administration - and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh over the role each plays in the GOP.
"My take on it was Colin had already left the party," Cheney said. "I didn't know he was still a Republican."
The former vice president noted that Powell endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama in last year's presidential race. "I assume that that's some indication of his loyalty and his interests," Cheney said.
Powell, in a speech last week, said "the Republican Party is in deep trouble" and said the GOP would be better off without Limbaugh, according to a report by the National Journal.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Rush Limbaugh fired back at Colin Powell for his critical comments earlier this week, saying Wednesday that the former secretary of state should join the Democratic Party.
"What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat instead of claiming to be a Republican interested in reforming the Republican Party," Limbaugh said on his radio show Wednesday.
Limbaugh also took aim at Powell's decision to endorse President Obama over John McCain during the presidential election, repeating his earlier sentiment that Powell's move was "solely based on race."
"He's just mad at me because I'm the one person in the country who had the guts to explain his endorsement of Obama," Limbaugh said. "It was purely and solely based on race."
During a speech on Monday, Powell said the "the Republican Party is in deep trouble" and said the GOP would be better off without Limbaugh, according to a report by the National Journal.
"I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without," Powell said.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Rush Limbaugh fired back at Colin Powell for his critical comments earlier this week, saying Wednesday that the former secretary of state should join the Democratic Party.
"What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat instead of claiming to be a Republican interested in reforming the Republican Party," Limbaugh said on his radio show Wednesday.
Limbaugh also took aim at Powell's decision to endorse President Obama over John McCain during the presidential election, repeating his earlier sentiment that Powell's move was "solely based on race."
"He's just mad at me because I'm the one person in the country who had the guts to explain his endorsement of Obama," Limbaugh said. "It was purely and solely based on race."
During a speech on Monday, Powell said the "the Republican Party is in deep trouble" and said the GOP would be better off without Limbaugh, according to a report by the National Journal.
"I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without," Powell said.
Watch Obama discuss his Pennsylvania primary loss on CNN Radio Wednesday.
(CNN) - The 300-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average Tuesday reinforced just how dire an economic environment President Obama faces, Colin Powell told CNN.
In an interview with American Morning Wednesday, the former Secretary of State under President Bush who endorsed Obama's White House bid earlier this fall, said the economy was the new president's "No. 1 problem."
"The American people I think fundamentally bet on President Obama because of the economic situation we are in," Powell said. "The stock market dropped another 300 points on this glorious Inauguration Day and people are losing jobs, and that will be No. 1 for him."
Powell, who was also Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Security Advisor under President George H.W. Bush, reiterated that he has never held political ambitions of his own, and that his wife was not happy with the idea of political life - both reasons he cited for avoiding a presidential run against then-President Bill Clinton in 1996, despite the urging of many leading Republicans.
"I'm a soldier. I never found inside of me the kind of internal passion that you got to have to run for elected office," he said.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - President-elect Obama will host a series of dinners the night before his inauguration honoring Ret. Gen. Colin Powell, Vice President-elect Joe Biden, and his former presidential rival, Republican Sen. John McCain, the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced Saturday.
"In these times of great challenge and great change, leadership requires rising above the same old narrow partisanship," the president-elect said in a statement released by the committee.
"Each of these distinguished Americans has spent his life in service to his country, at each and every moment placing the interests of America before issues of political party. That is precisely the spirit of common purpose we need as we begin the work ahead."
The committee said the events will be held at the National Building Museum, Union Station and the Hilton Washington.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters Friday that he enjoys his private life, and that he does not want a job with the incoming administration.
Powell, who crossed party lines weeks before the general election to endorse Obama, has said before that he is not interested in working for the soon-to-be president. Powell is currently an honorary co-chair of Obama’s Presidential Inaugural Committee.
“I am very happy in private life, thank you very much, and I'm trying to be as helpful as I can to the president-elect and the vice president-elect,” Powell told reporters Friday. “I look forward to assisting in anyway that I can, but I have not been offered a job, and I've kind of made it clear that I am not looking for a position.”
Powell also praised incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and called her “the most distinguished public servant.”
“I am a very close friend of hers, and I congratulate her selection and appointment as Secretary of State,” Powell said. “I think she'll do a very, very - a very, very fine job.”
Powell spoke at a Washington event Friday unveiling an Obama community service program and the web site USAservice.org, an online tool to publicize available service projects and connect volunteers with non-profit organizations.
(CNN) - The Republican party must stop "shouting at the world" and start listening to minority groups if it is to win elections in the 21st century, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday.
In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria for Sunday's "GPS" program, President Bush's former secretary of state said his party's attempt "to use polarization for political advantage" backfired last month.
"I think the party has to take a hard look at itself," Powell said in the interview, which was taped Wednesday. "There is nothing wrong with being conservative. There is nothing wrong with having socially conservative views - I don't object to that. But if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority."
Powell, who crossed party lines and endorsed President-elect Barack Obama just weeks before the election, said the GOP must see what is in the "hearts and minds" of African-American, Hispanic and Asian voters "and not just try to influence them by... the principles and dogma."
"I think the party has to stop shouting at the world and at the country,"Powell said. "I think that the party has to take a hard look at itself, and I've talked to a number of leaders in recent weeks and they understand that." Powell, who says he still considers himself a Republican, said his party should also stop listening to conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
"Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?" Powell asked. "Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?"
Zakaria's full interview with Powell will air Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on CNN.
(CNN) - Conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh Monday strongly defended his recent remark that Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama largely because of race, and lashed out at members of the media and Democrats for appearing to take issue with his comment.
"So what if it's race?" Limbaugh said on his radio show. "Why is it so hard to admit that it's race...What's so problematic about admitting it?"
Limbaugh's original comments came in an email to Politico reporter Jonathan Martin Sunday, when the talk-radio host took issue with Powell's contention that his endorsement of the Illinois senator did not have anything to do with the color of his skin.
"Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race," Limbaugh wrote in the e-mail. "OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with."
The comments immediately caused a stir on several Democratic blogs and an Obama campaign spokeswoman called them "disgusting." They were also heavily reported on several news programs Sunday night and Monday morning. But Limbaugh made clear Monday he is not backing down from them.
"I thought it should be about race," he said. "I thought you liberals thought this was a historic candidacy because finally we are going to elect a black guy...why hide behind this, why act like it's not about race?"
"This was all about Powell and race, nothing about the nation and its welfare," Limbaugh added. The talk radio host also criticized members of the media for not addressing his claim that Powell likely hasn't endorsed white candidates who, according to Limbaugh, have similar political leanings and experience as Obama.
(CNN) – Is Colin Powell set to make a long-anticipated endorsement?
The former Secretary of State under President Bush, who has been coy about who he will support this November, will appear on NBC's Meet the Press this weekend, the network has announced.
Rumors have long swirled that Powell, the first African-American Secretary of State, is leaning toward backing Obama.
NBC is staying mum on what Powell will say: "[He] will break his recent silence and share his views on a variety of important issues," the network said.
A source close to Powell wouldn't say if an endorsement would come Sunday.
"Stay tuned," the source said.
Powell suggested last month he had yet to make up his mind.
The election of an African-American president “would be electrifying,” Powell told a George Washington University audience, “but at the same time [I have to] make a judgment here on which would be best for America.
Watch: Powell: I'm undecided
“I have been watching both individuals, I know them both extremely well, and I have not decided who I am going to vote for. And I'm interested to see what the debates are going to be like because we have to get off of this ‘lipstick on a pig’ stuff and get into issues,” he said.
(CNN) - Five former Secretaries of State from both parties told CNN Monday the Bush administration’s hard-line approach on Iran needs to be abandoned by the next president – with one GOP foreign policy heavyweight calling the current White House position “ridiculous.”
"I would advise the president to fully engage with Syria," former George H.W. Bush Secretary of State James Baker said at a George Washington University forum co-sponsored by CNN. “I think it's ridiculous for us to say we're not going to talk to Syria, and yet the Israelis have been negotiating peace with them for the last six or eight months.”
Watch Colin Powell on the presidential race
(Powell's full comments will air on “The Next President: A World of Challenges” this Saturday night at 9pm ET and again Sunday at 2pm ET.)
Baker, who has endorsed John McCain’s presidential bid, appeared with former Clinton Secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Warren Christopher, Henry Kissinger, who served under Nixon and Ford, and former Bush Secretary of State Colin Powell. Albright has been an active supporter of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
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