All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell weighed in Tuesday on the controversy over Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. Powell said he has been the victim of racial profiling "many times."

In an interview with CNN's Larry King, some of which you can see at left, Powell recalled a particular incident at a Washington airport when he worked for the Reagan administration.

"Nobody thought I could possibly be the national security advisor to the president, I was just a black guy at Reagan National Airport," he said. "And it was only when I went to the counter and said is my guest here waiting for me, that someone said, 'Oh, you're General Powell.' It was inconceivable to him that a black guy could be the national security advisor."

On the Gates arrest, Powell said the Harvard professor could have been more patient with the police officer, Sgt. James Crowley.

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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that President Obama did "not handle" his decision to close Guantanamo Bay detainment facility "very well," on CBS’ "Face the Nation" Sunday.

"I think President Obama didn't handle it very well by going up to the Congress and asking for $80 million without a plan. And by, frankly, giving enough time to opponents of it to marshal their forces as to why we shouldn't do this," he said.

Powell said that he has lobbied for Guantanamo to be closed or the last six years and that he went to his boss, former President Bush, with his concerns.

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Colin Powell told Bob Schieffer he has "no idea" if the enhanced interrogation techniques used during the Bush administration were effective.

"I have no idea," he said on "Face the Nation" Sunday. "I hear that they were. I hear that they weren't. You see people from the FBI who come out and say, 'We got all of that information before any of that was done.' I cannot answer that question. And the problem is, I don't know what I don't know."

He said that he was aware that enhanced methods of interrogation were being considered in the aftermath of 9/11 but said he was "not privy" to the memos of legal documents that were being written.

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Gen. Colin Powell said he is still a Republican and that former Vice President Dick Cheney is "misinformed" about his party affiliation.

Powell, appearing on "Face the Nation" Sunday, answered criticism from Cheney, who questioned Powell's loyalty to the GOP after voting for President Barack Obama in November.

"I am still a republican. I'd 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-now Barack Obama," Powell said.

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On the heels of an interview with a North Dakota radio station this week in which he advised it would be a mistake for the Republican Party to seek broader appeal by moderating its stance on issues, former vice president Dick Cheney today said there is room in the GOP for moderates.

"I think partly it's a semantic problem," he told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer on Face The Nation. "I don't think the party ought to move dramatically to the left, for example, in order to try to redefine its base.

"We are what we are. We're Republicans. We have certain things we believe in. And maintaining our loyalty and commitment to those principles is vital to our success."

And when it came to "loyalty," Cheney offered that he believes former Secretary of State Colin Powell abandoned the party.

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Colin Powell, the former Bush administration Secretary of State and now head of America's Promise, called Barack Obama's election to the nation's highest office a "reaffirmation of American principles values that will help us overcome some of the difficulties of recent years with respect to the attitude of the world toward us."

Speaking with CBS News Managing Editor Katie Couric, Powell said America's prestige abroad has improved since Mr. Obama won a decisive victory over Senator John McCain.

"I think it has really, really been an remarkable event in terms of getting everybody to stand back and say, look at what we have seen here in America," Powell said. "The America we remember is back again."

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Gen. Colin Powell, a Republican who endorsed President-elect Barack Obama before the November election, has together with the Presidential Inaugural Committee announced the "Renew America Together" initiative, which will kick off on Jan. 19th, the day before Mr. Obama is sworn in as president.

The initiative, which will begin on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, is a call to "all Americans to make an ongoing commitment to serve their communities and their country," according to a release.

"At this moment of great purpose and great promise, President-elect Obama is calling on all Americans to make an ongoing commitment to serve their communities and their country," said Powell, an honorary co-chair of the inauguration. "We're not just asking the American people for one day of service. We are asking you to make an ongoing commitment of your time - an hour, a weekend, whatever you can spare. Because that's how we're going to rebuild this country and meet our great challenges – together."

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To kick off the initiative on the 19th, Mr. Obama, Vice President-elect Joe Biden and their families will participate in community service projects in the D.C. area.

The inaugural committee launched a Web site, USAService.org, to help connect individuals to community service projects.

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