AT LAST: POWELL OUT

Gen. Colin Powell's decision to announce his non-availability for a presidential run this week has caused his most ardent backers in the national media to "check into the Betty Ford clinic for Colin Powell withdrawal," in the wry observation of one perceptive pundit. Although Gen. Powell's appeal among the public appeared to be both broad and deep, a significant portion of the boomlet for his candidacy was unquestionably media-driven. As long as he remained unannounced, he was, preeminently, the candidate of the Press Party. And oh, how they wanted him to run.

Liberal politicians, columnists and editorial pages, and even a few conservatives such as Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett, are decrying the absence of Powell's "moderate voice" from the GOP presidential nominating contest. Of these, perhaps the most interesting was columnist Charles Krauthammer, a neo-conservative who wrote first that Powell was the Press Party's candidate because he and he alone had a chance to halt the conservative revolution being led in the House by Speaker Newt Gingrich. This fact, according to Krauthammer, explained the media boomlet for his candidacy and made him the most dangerous man in America to the goals of the congressional Republican majority.

Fast forward two weeks, during which the travesty of the O.J. Simpson verdict intervened, revealing the incredibly sharp divisions between the perceptions of that event held by whites as against those of African-American descent. After this shattering event threw a spotlight on the extent of racial polarization in America, columnist Krauthammer wrote a second column, stating his willingness to cast a vote for Gen. Powell, notwithstanding Powell's intention to blunt or moderate the Gingrich-led reforms in which Krauthammer believes so strongly.

Why the difference? The answer is that once again, according to Krauthammer, Powell and Powell alone could do something unique: symbolize American success in a race-neutral manner that could unite the country and heal our racial divide. The question, according to Krauthammer, was whether you wanted action to save the minorities trapped in the failed liberal welfare state -- of the sort Gingrich is fighting to enact -- more than you wanted racial healing and unity. Krauthammer and a substantial number of the American electorate appeared ready to opt for the latter choice.

And then, on Wednesday, Gen. Powell said no. No to a candidacy for president in 1996. No also, even to a request, should it be forthcoming, for him to run as someone's vice president. What he said yes to, though, is more interesting. He forthrightly stated, during Wednesday's remarkable press conference, that he is a Republican.

Perhaps the most remarkable moment in that remarkable press conference came when Powell urged that a neglected word -- shame -- be placed back at the forefront of discussion in our public life. Surely a public and a culture sated on the latest know-no-shame stuff from trash daytime TV talk shows could benefit from the general's wise counsel.

At a young 58, it is doubtful that Gen. Powell has finished his service to the country he loves so well. Although that service won't include seeking elective office next year, he's the odds-on favorite for secretary of state in the next Republican administration. In the meantime, look for Gen. Powell to continue speaking out on important issues with characteristic force and grace, and to continue as a unifying figure for an American culture that can always benefit from heroes who remind us, after all, that this is still America, where if you work hard, play by the rules and keep your nose clean, you can do more and rise further than you ever imagined.