GOP Nominee
Former Candidates
First it was The Nation; then The New Yorker; and today, Huff Puff gets in the act:
Breaking: Condi Rice Flirts With VP Possibility — Speaks to Grover Norquist’s Wednesday Group Meeting
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is speaking this morning to Grover Norquist’s weekly powerhouse gathering at Americans for Tax Reform of conservative associations, think tanks, and political operations.
At the semi-secret gatherings which Republican political hopefuls migrate to to get the blessing of not only Norquist but the diverse parts of the nation’s conservative money and political machinery, Norquist gives everyone in the room 3 minutes to pitch their cause or issue. I have attended before, but if one wants to attend again — no one may write or speak about the internal discussion or who attended.
In this case, however, I am not attending — but a source other than Norquist has leaked this information to The Washington Note and Huffington Post.
As one major Republican operative told me yesterday:
Someone like Condi Rice doesn’t go to Grover Norquist’s den to talk about the Annapolis Middle East peace process. She’s going to secure her future in Republican politics and to position herself as a ‘potential’ VP candidate on the McCain ticket.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Doing for the GOP ticket what she did for Iraq.
I love Condi in theory but she is damaged goods.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
“Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”
Sometimes a speaking engagement is just a speaking engagement.
We do NOT want Condi on the ticket. If you think Newt has baggage, she has the entire annual production run of Samsonite on her back.
If McCain is seriously considering her, he might as well go with Jeb Bush, instead.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
As someone who was a big supporter of a hypothetical McCain/Rice ticket all the way back in 2005, I think in 2008 it would be one of the worst possible tickets. Condi is more tied to Bush than just about anyone else. McCain needs to run a general election in which he runs against Bush’s record. That’s really the only way he can win in November.
With that said, I agree with HuffPo that it is extremely interesting that the Secretary of State would just decide to attend a meeting with Norquist out of the blue like that. Perhaps she is putting some feelers out there.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Maybe Condi and Charlie Crist can get married and we’d get the benefits of both on the ticket. Crist would deliver FL and Condi would beef up the female and the black vote.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Democrats, obsessed with racial and gender quotas, keep thinking that the Republicans will try to balance out our ticket with a woman or African American, and she’s the only one
that fits in both. But McCain isn’t going to pick someone because of race or gender; it’ll be because capabilities and trust.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I am a big Condi fan, but I don’t see it happening, and I’m not sure it would be a good idea.
March 26th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I think you hit the nail on the head, Andrew. The Democrats are projecting again.
March 26th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
With all due respect to Condi’s many defenders on this site, she is a terrible, terrible VP choice for McCain.
First of all, she has no geographical advantage. California is her home state but since she’s never run for office here she’ll have no pull here, plus California is too blue to flip anyway.
Second, of all of the GOP and Dem nominees this cycle, McCain had the strongest foreign policy resume of the bunch. Wouldn’t it make more sense to pick a candidate who balanced him ideologically (Rice is probably a less reliable conservative than McCain) or experience-wise(like a Governor)?
And finally — and this is crucial — picking a member of the Bush Administration undoes the entire rationalle for McCain’s electability in the first place. If McCain is going to win in November it is essential that he is seen as a fresh start, and not a continuation of Bush 43. Remember all those fights McCain picked with Bush in 2001-2004 that drove conservatives nuts? Well, by accident or design, that well documented feud provides Republicans their path to victory in November. Picking Rice undoes ALL of that.
March 26th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Sean P: Much as I like her, all your points are valid.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:22 am
This won’t happen. no way. mccain is not that stupid. rice represents all that got us kicked out of control in 06. unfortunate but true. not a good idea. in fact, horrible idea.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Ugh.