The best thing that could ever happen to West in my eyes is to hear that he would never be a general because he wouldn't put up with Pentagon BS. I am not sure if West wouldn't turn into a Powell. My uncertainly means that I wouldn't vote for him unless he was a last resort.
I think Colonel West is pretty solid, but I totally understand where you’re coming from. After several years of seeing all these backstabbings and betrayals coming from inside the GOP (the treatment given Palin, the Romney flipflops, the turnarounds by Rubio/Ryan, Rove and the corrupt moneymen, etc.), I’ve become so intensely distrustful of EVERYONE that I can barely describe it.
Just a few short years ago, I used to at least have a generic sense that the average GOP politician at least somewhat shared my conservative values and ideology to a fair extent. I no longer sense that in the least anymore. Quite the opposite. I now have to see a long track-record of solid accomplishments and definitive position statements before I’ll ever even remotely ‘consider’ giving someone my vote. And although it would have once been an inconceivable notion to me, I can easily see myself now sitting out future elections entirely. In fact, I already started this process by refusing to give Romney my vote last year.