Retired General David Petraeus, former head of the CIA and of the military effort in Iraq and Afghanistan, has returned to public life after his sudden resignation over a love affair five months ago.
Long rumored to be interested in a political career as a Republican, including a possible plan to challenge President Barack Obama, which went by the wayside when Obama made him CIA head, Petraeus, apologizing for his misbehavior in a public speech, can now be seen as a possible GOP candidate for the White House in 2016, when Obama is leaving.
Being a candidate when the Presidency will be open to change is a lot better bet than challenging a sitting President, and when one looks at the GOP field, Petraeus is certainly a more viable and legitimate candidate than many of the Republican officeholders now considering the Presidency run in 2016.
Of course, he would need to clarify what his views are, and if he turns out to be a moderate conservative, he would be a competent and competitive choice for the White House, certainly more than anyone now seen as a candidate, other than, maybe, Jeb Bush, and Jon Huntsman!
But Jeb Bush has a major burden to carry with his name, and Huntsman is too intelligent and sensible and experienced in foreign policy, and in the crazy Republican Party of 2013, he would probably get no traction!
Petraeus, at least on paper, would be far better than anyone else, and could bring the GOP back to common sense and a responsible image, almost like another Dwight D. Eisenhower, but the question is how he would approach the major issues of the day, and whether he would be able to communicate effectively as a candidate and nominee, and be able to overcome the loonies in the GOP, including the evangelical right wing Christians that want to use the Bible to govern America!