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Meanwhile an unofficial Powell organization took shape. "We knew from the people who had called us who was available for what," says Armitage, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense under Reagan. "We weren't just sitting on our hands." Powell tapped the G.O.P.'s best organizational minds for advice, pressing experts for details about deadlines, delegate slating, issues and policy questions, staffing and fund raising. Duberstein, a former Reagan chief of staff, reached out to a score of G.O.P. political operatives, asking those who were unaffiliated not to commit to any other campaign, even inviting those who had committed to stay loose.
All the while, Powell's fax machine, mailbox and home mail slot were flooded with unsolicited resumes, offers of volunteers and policy papers. Journalists faxed over speech ideas; several volunteered to quit their jobs and join the campaign. Fund raisers drew up financial timetables. ceos called, urging Powell to run. Congressmen pledged their silent support; some sitting Democratic lawmakers quietly pushed Powell to jump into the race, even as a Republican, because the Democratic Party, they said, was beyond repair. Governors indicated they were ready to endorse. Duberstein's rabbi pulled him aside before service one Saturday morning in September and asked, "Is he going to do it?"
Literally, it seemed, everyone was waiting for Powell, but even those whose advice he trusted most, such as former President George Bush, who spoke with him several times by telephone and once in person, could not be certain afterward about which way he would go. The consensus of all the advice Powell received, says Armitage, was that a candidacy would be good for the country but hell for him.
It was only after the book tour that Powell addressed himself to the hard question of actually deciding what to do. "There were times of great enthusiasm," says Armitage. "He'd get fired up, enthusiastic for the task at hand." But then the urge would die down. On Saturday, Oct. 28, Powell decided he was going to run. The next day he got up and concluded that he couldn't.
In the final week Powell tightened his circle of advisers to a group of three: Alma, Armitage and Duberstein. At one meeting early in the week, Powell was close enough to a yes to discuss the creation of an exploratory committee. Duberstein talked to two lawyers about how to set it up. The group also considered talking to Charles Kelly, who ran Citizens for Colin Powell, about tapping into his organization, but they decided to hold off until Powell was firmer about saying yes.
Then some heavyweights helped push Powell further. On Wednesday, Nov. 1, Duberstein was calling old associates of Powell's to make sure they could drop their lives on short notice and come to Washington to help him run. The next day, Powell met at his office in Alexandria with Republican Party chairman Haley Barbour, who talked favorably about a candidacy. But there were other voices just as determined to be heard. A group of conservatives called a press conference to blast Powell and warn him against running. Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed had done the same, via letter.