Obama acolyte Colin Powell on what ails the Republican party:

“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.

Q: Who asked Colin Powell?

That’s not facetious. Powell, for all of his merits, has never been a conservative, never been particularly comfortable with conservatives, and lately has been actively hostile toward conservatives. If the Republican party isn’t the conservative party, it isn’t anything. What Republican, desirous of achieving goals in keeping with the values of the Republican party, would seek advice, on anything other than defense issues, from Colin Powell? I suspect that even most Democrats would agree that if the Republican party had communicators half as effective as Limbaugh running for office, they’d never lose an election.