The Washington Post reports that Secretary of State Colin Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage will not stay on for a second term with Bush. They intend to step down in January, 2005.

Since Colin Powell enjoys much popularity across party lines, we think this could hurt Bush in the 2004 election. It's not like Powell is quitting now, so the country won't have much, if any, time to adjust to his replacement before the election.

We also wonder why this is coming out now. Won't foreign governments begin viewing Powell as a "lame duck" of sorts, decreasing their incentive to pay much attention to him?

The Post says National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz are the leading candidates to replace Powell, but Rice may not want the job because of the bureaucracy involved.

We'll be curious to see what the professional politicos make of this.