Colin Powell to answer critics on TV

WASHINGTON — Under intense fire from the right, former Secretary of State Colin Powell is preparing to answer his Republican critics today in a television appearance likely to add fuel to his long-standing feud with top conservatives in his party.

The appearance on "Face the Nation" (8:30 a.m. on Channel 7) comes just days after Powell said in Boston that a new Republican Party is "waiting to emerge."

He served as President George W. Bush's secretary of state and avoided partisan political activities after leaving the White House at the end of Bush's first term. That changed late in the presidential campaign, when he endorsed Barack Obama.

Since the election, he has called for the GOP to target mainstream moderates and abandon "impractical" ideas. That message has proved too much for some conservatives. Radio-talk-show host Rush Limbaugh and former Vice President Dick Cheney have attacked Powell, a Republican, in recent days as a traitor to his party.

"What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat," Limbaugh told listeners. Cheney commented, "I didn't know he was still a Republican."

Indeed, there is speculation Powell could make an announcement about his party affiliation on the show.