By That is what the Army Times is wondering at least:
For a guy who professes to have no interest in running for president, Gen. David Petraeus can come off as surprisingly eager to talk about it — sometimes without even being asked.
In a recent appearance at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia he turned a question about his retirement plans into an opportunity to deny he has political ambitions. An audience member asked if he planned to write a book when he left the Army. He responded by saying he’d feared the politics question.
“The answer is ‘no,’” he said — and he didn’t mean no book; he meant no race for the White House.
Part of his stock reply to the politics question — even when it’s not asked — is to cite lyrics from a Lorrie Morgan country-western song about rejecting an unwanted suitor: “What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand?”
Then he chuckles as if to suggest he’s a bit embarrassed by the fuss — fuss sometimes of his own making.
Is he keeping his options open? [Army Times]
Read the rest, but I think a real telling indication of his political ambitions will be whether the President appoints him to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or not in the future. If the President foresees him as a political threat would he want him working that close to the White House?
Anyway I think even if he wanted to run for the Presidency, 2012 is not an option because he is more concerned about stabilizing Afghanistan than making a run at the White House. Plus no one even knows what his views are outside of military affairs. It just seems like if he is going to ever make a White House run he would have to spend some time defining himself outside of military affairs to really have any chance of winning.
12:20 pm on March 16th, 2010 1
2012 may be a little bit too early for Petraeus, however if all goes well, 2016 may be prime time. I woldn't be surprized to see him run. He seems to have the smarts and savey. Its only the political muck he hasn't met and waded through that he needs to be aquainted with. He may be up to the task. Time will tell.
12:27 pm on March 16th, 2010 2
He'd be sixty-four years old if at inauguration if he runs and wins in 2016.
I don't think Obama has anything to fear from appointing him JCS chief because of the high unlikelihood of a sitting chief running against the POTUS (or quitting to run against the POTUS).
It would be a bigger threat to other prospective presidential candidates, like Hillary Clinton, were he to be made JCS chief.
For a high-ranking military officer to be a viable Democratic candidate, he/she'd have to have strong credentials in their military — someone famous and seen as competent — but strong social progressivism. Socially minded but fiscally conservative could work, a Wes Clark, maybe. Colin Powell could have run — and won — as a blue dog Dem.
12:35 pm on March 16th, 2010 3
The country is so polarized now, he would find himself in a minefield as soon as he declared a political affiliation.
Why would any reasonable person want to get into politics now?
BTW, he just advocated for lifting DADT.