Hotline After Dark -- Powell's Plans Not Kristol Clear

Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol reported on FNC 8/13 that ex-Sec/State Colin Powell would be joining Barack Obama at the Dem convo to endorse him.

In an interview with ABC News, Powell disputed the claim. Powell: "I do not have time to waste on Bill Kristol's musings. I am not going to the convention. I have made this clear." Powell, however, "ended the conversation without entertaining any follow-up questions as to whether he would be crossing party lines to endorse Obama" (release, 8/13).

NBC's Mitchell: "It's not true. He's not going to either convention. And I think perhaps some people inferred from the fact that Colin Powell is not going to the Republican convention that he was going to choose the Democrat. ... What General Powell is telling friends is that he wants to evaluate both candidates, see whom they choose to be their running mates, and then make a decision. ... So no endorsement of Barack Obama. He's not ruling it out, but he wants to see where both of the candidates stand on the issues and on their choice of running mates" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 8/13).

Dick Morris, on a Powell endorsement: "I think that would be very big. I think that first, he's not primarily seen as a black person, so I don't think it's a racial thing. He's seen as someone with tremendous expertise in foreign policy and the responsible right as opposed to the neo-con. ... I'd be very surprised if he endorsed Obama, but it would be very significant" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 8/13).

New York Observer's Kornacki: "There is a certain expectation, you know, among people who are following this thing, that Colin Powell probably supports Barack Obama. You know, whether he's going to come out and make a show of it, nobody's quite sure. ... I wouldn't be surprised if there's a statement sometime in September or October. That might be the level we're looking at here" ("AC 360," CNN, 8/13).

After the jump, VP guessing games.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

ALL QUIET ON THE BIDEN FRONT

And VP speculation continued. First, the Dems:

MSNBC's Olbermann: "Working off a presumed short list of three and then cutting that by two, we may now be able to predict that Senator Barack Obama's running mate will be Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. ... Obama's presidential campaign announced today that the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention will be the former governor of Virginia, Mark Warner. ... Warner's rising star might actually dim the VP chances for Virginia's current governor, Tim Kaine on this simple theory. Warner speaks on Tuesday night, the vice presidential candidate makes his acceptance speech on Wednesday night. It is unlikely that out of the universe of possible speakers, two Virginia governors would be scheduled for major speeches on successive convention nights."

More Olbermann: "Further, if Obama wants the theme for Wednesday night national security to dovetail with his vice presidential pick, it is Biden -- since he has far more heft in that department against his other supposed short-listers, Governor Kaine and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh."

Washingtonpost.com's Cillizza, asked if he concurs: "Well, the logic is all there. ... I do think what you're looking at at this point is Bayh or Biden. And I do think that Joe Biden is sort of a hot commodity. He's the name that has been kicking around in Obama world for some time. I sort of dismissed it for a while -- Joe Biden has a reputation for shooting from the lip a little too much to be a vice president -- but it continues to crop up which makes me think he's really in the running here. One other quick thing about Biden here -- he is known for speaking about anything and everything whenever asked. He has been pretty quiet lately, which leads to some suspicion" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 8/13).

And the GOPers:

Newt Gingrich, on rumors that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is on John McCain's short list: "I like Senator Lieberman a great deal. I admire him a lot. I think he'd be a great secretary of state. I think he would be terrific as an attorney general, but I think the idea of him being the Republican vice presidential nominee would split the convention, would probably mean that Bob Barr would get about 15 percent of the vote. ... I think that traditional values, right-to-life conservatives would walk ... out of the convention in a way that would be unmanageable by the McCain people."

Gingrich, asked why he doesn't want to be VP: "You know Clint Eastwood in one of his movies had a great line. He said a man has to know his limitations. I think that I'm sufficiently aggressive and have enough different ideas and enough different solutions of my own that I think Senator McCain would want somebody who was probably a little bit less uncontrollable and off on his own" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 8/13).