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Cheney, Limbaugh Can't Touch Powell in Popularity

Ex-veep far less popular than his target for criticism

By Gabriel Winant, Newser User

Posted May 26, 2009 9:56 AM CDT

(Newser) – When Dick Cheney got in a fight with Colin Powell, it looks like he was punching above his weight class. Cheney dismissed Powell’s views on the Republican Party’s direction, saying, “I didn’t think he was still a Republican”—a comment echoed by Rush Limbaugh. But CNN reports a poll that shows Powell—who says, “I am still a Republican"—with astronomical popularity: 70% rate the former general favorably, compared to 37% for Cheney and 30% for Limbaugh.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

President Bush, center, listens as Secretary of State Colin Powell, right, speaks during a meeting with his Cabinet and advisers in this Sept. 15, 2001 photo. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

In this Jan. 13, 2009 file photo, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh talks with former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, FILE)

In this Jan. 7, 2009 file photo, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and his wife Alma Powell take part in a reception in the East Room at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds, FILE)

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Rush will not get his wish, and Mr. Cheney was misinformed. I am still a Republican.
- Colin Powell

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Cheney, Limbaugh Can't Touch Powell in Popularity