One conservative leader is so horrified by the possibility of Colin Powell’s selection by Republican primary voters as the presidential nominee that he is considering a third-party run himself. No, not Pat Buchanan. James Dobson. Dobson is probably the most powerful figure in Christian radio; his literate 30-minute daily show, “Focus on the Family,” is heard on 1,500 radio stations worldwide, and his books routinely sell hundreds of thousands of copies, mostly in religious bookstores. The former USC professor of pediatrics has built an organization with a budget in excess of $ 100 million a year and a mailing list of 5 million names.
One Dobson intimate says that if he announced a presidential bid, he would have 2 million volunteers ready to go by the time the words had left his mouth.
Ironically, Dobson bears some responsibility for the viability of a Powell campaign. He took the bloom off Phil Gramm’s conservative presidential rose when he made a stink after a meeting with Gramm in which the Texas senator said, honestly enough, “I’m not a preacher.” The refusal of the hard right to unify behind Gramm has divided his base and left a hole the size of a Mack truck for the moderate general.
