Powell Won’t Be Campaigning for Dole

Expanding the arms-length approach he has adopted toward politics, retired Army Gen. Colin L. Powell said Monday he does not plan to campaign for presumptive Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole or GOP candidates for any other office this year.

Powell’s decision is certain to disappoint Dole, who hoped to tap the general’s continuing popularity with the public by giving him a major role in the fall campaign. And some party strategists, including National Party Chairman Haley Barbour, had touted Powell as a potential campaigner for Republican congressional candidates.

Although Powell said he plans to vote for Dole and considers himself a Republican, he told the AP Network News that he still finds it awkward as a former military officer to become directly involved in political campaigning.

“I am still a retired general, and I don’t feel comfortable going around the country” telling people how to vote, he said in the interview. “I don’t plan to go out on the campaign or fund-raising trail,” he added. “I am practicing my own politics, privately.”

Powell’s chief spokesman, retired Army Col. William Smullen, told reporters later that the general also was not interested in being the keynote speaker at the party’s national nominating convention in San Diego next month.

Even so, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff left the door open for cameo appearances. He said he still might appear publicly with Dole, and hinted he might be amenable to playing a lower-profile role at the convention.

Powell’s name surfaced as a potential presidential candidate last year when his nationwide tour promoting his memoir, “My American Journey,” attracted huge crowds. But last November, Powell announced he had decided against running for office for now. And since then, he has resisted inquiries from the Dole camp about possibly joining the ticket as the vice presidential candidate.

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Nelson Warfield, a Dole campaign spokesman, sought to play down Powell’s latest remarks. Warfield told the AP that despite Powell’s apparent reluctance to go out on the hustings, “We still expect him to be an active supporter of Bob Dole.”

Powell made his remarks during an interview promoting the paperback publication of his book.

Not all Republicans will be disappointed by Powell’s decision to remain firmly on the political sidelines. He raises hackles among many conservatives because of his support of abortion rights and affirmative action programs.