Actually the original quote was taken out of context and not given in full, which greatly alters the meaning of the entire part:
Quote:
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Of the others only Gandalf might be expected to master him - being an emissary of the Powers and a creature of the same order, an immortal spirit taking a visible physical form. In the “Mirror of Galadriel”, I 381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond. But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power. But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond’s words at the Council. Galadriel’s rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve.~Letter 246
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To set up the scenario here Tolkien was talking about Frodo claiming the Ring and a hypothetical 'Frodo ringbearer' scenario. He goes onto say that Frodo would not have been able to do much, he would have been taken back to Sauron, tortured and Sauron would have the Ring back. He goes on to say that no mortal could possible beat Sauron for mastery of the Ring. And the only reason Aragorn beat Sauron in the contest with the palantir was because it took place at a distant and Aragorn was the rightful owner.
He then moves onto 'the others' (which like
obloquy I assume as Maiar and Elves)...to which he says only Gandalf might be expected to beat Sauron for mastery of the Ring. He then talks about the 'other guardians' of the Elven Rings (which I think he would only be referring to Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf as those are the only ones he mentions).
What's important here is Tolkien doesn't say what he thinks, but what his characters think:
In the “Mirror of Galadriel”, I 381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord.
He then goes onto say that if Galadriel 'conceived' this herself so did the other Guardians...specially Elrond:
If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond.
This quote is talking about what the bearers felt they could use the One Ring for, and that's why the last part of the quote (which seems to be conveniently left out) is important to the understanding. As he then talks about the 'essential deceit of the Ring.' Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf were all smart enough to know that the Ring was deceiving them with visions of 'supreme power' and were able to reject their own thoughts of using the Ring against Sauron. It has nothing to do with power unless you use it to show why Gandalf was one (if not the) most powerful person on Middle-earth. It is more about what various people thought they could do with the Ring (but the Ring being the evil little deceiver it is fills people with ideas of grandeur and power) and what they could actually do.