Feb. 14, 2008
Rice Is Right For McCain's VP
The Nation: Putting Condoleezza Rice On The Republican Ticket Would Cause Indescribable Angst For Dems
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Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., can cause Dems indescribable angst with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as his vice-presidential pick, says The Nation. (AP)
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Democrats who think it's going to be a cakewalk into the White House next November had best remember one name: Condoleezza Rice.
John McCain is a formidable candidate in his own right, but if he has the political imagination to do it, he can cause the party of Jefferson and Jackson indescribable angst with Rice as his vice-presidential pick.
Besides being the greatest two-for in GOP history, Rice brings other huge pluses to the decorated Vietnam hero. Indeed, she may be enough to elect the venerable hero/naval aviator.
McCain's troubles with the religious wing of his party could well evaporate with the churchgoing Rice at his side. She solidifies that part of his base overnight.
With Rice on the ticket, the GOP would have somebody to get enthusiastic about. The Secretary of State is immensely popular with Republicans. For a party that up to now has been clueless about how to run against either a woman or a person of color, Condoleezza Rice is pure political gold.
Woe to any Democrat who thinks taking her on in a debate is a sure thing. The woman is tough, fast on her feet and able to give better than she gets. Anyone who has seen her in action testifying in front of a hostile House or Senate committee knows that she will be able to wipe up the floor with a plodding, ordinary pol of a Democratic vice-presidential candidate. Take Rice lightly at your peril.
In the ordinary course of things the ideal vice-presidential candidate is relied upon to carry his or her home state and keep out of trouble. With Condi the GOP gets a lot more. It gets a superstar to match the Democrats' superstars. If it comes to name recognition, glamour and magnetism for conservatives, Condi is dandy. Also, it is a plus for the GOP team that she is a snappy dresser.
Rice's presence on the ticket deprives the Democrats of the we-are-more-diverse-than-thou argument. It makes McCain - whose ethnically diverse family includes an adopted daughter from Bangladesh - an even more attractive candidate for a certain kind of independent voter.
Rice can rightly be attacked for serving President Bush and backing an unpopular and disastrous war. But McCain, who is extremely pro-war himself, is not going to select a running mate who is wishy-washy on Iraq. Rice is also said to have done a poor job running the State Department, where morale is supposed to have dropped faster than a subprime mortgage. However, you can put the number of voters who give a rodent's behind about the care and feeding of cookie-pushing diplomats in a phone booth, if phone booths still existed.
With Rice on the ticket the Republicans are freed up to run a much stronger negative campaign against either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama because the Secretary of State provides them with cover against charges of sexism or racism. They would be able to go after Obama's membership in Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Its minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., with whom Obama is close, has won himself the militant tag from conservatives because of his association with Nation of Islam leader the Rev. Louis Farrakhan.
They can attack Hillary's experience claims as consisting of her being Bill's wife. They can challenge her boast that she is a strong, independent woman and paint her as a weak, hopelessly-in-love woman under the spell of a man subject not only to "bimbo eruptions" but also eruptions of smarmy deals with shady business figures.
Lastly, Rice is a notorious sports fan with excruciatingly detailed knowledge of much of its arcana. She's often said that her dream job is commissioner of the National Football League; however, in a pinch she would probably settle for Vice President of the United States.
By Nicholas von Hoffman
Reprinted with permission from The Nation.
| If you like this article, check out www.thenation.com for more investigative reports, timely editorials and incisive columns |




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See all 131 Commentsthis is great. The rep party is bumbling around and will implod with no help from the dems.
Geez, Rice has the lowest approval rating of any SOS and has been completely USELESS in the role of NSA or SOS.
Her only actions have been to parrot shrub and refuse to get involve in any of the disputes surrounding him. Her job is to distill all the view points and then present them to shrub so he can make an informed decision. She failed miserably!! She would insist that there be agreement so she could present shrub with only 1 solution, as more than 1 would confuse him, and force it to be the one he wanted to hear.
And NRO thinks putting this complete failure on dino John''s ticket is going to be good??
Never have I heard such complete stupidity by the reps as I have heard this year. They are completely lost and probably it won''t even be close. There will be a big sweep at all levels and the reps are OUT for a long time.
And now, former P.O.W. McCain votes in favor of torture. Wow.
Look Nicky...can I call you Nicky? Just cause you want to wear Condi''s undies on your head and do a little horizontal bopping with her on the Oval Office carpet doesn''t mean you need to gush over here like a smitten school boy. Just go tell her you''d crawl through broken glass just to lick her boots...or did you do that already?
Posted by sanevoice at 02:40 PM : Feb 14, 2008"
Yea, piece of work ain''t he? Is there anyones a$$ in Washington he hasn''t kissed?
Good campaign slogan though "I was against torture before I was for it" or perhaps "If I can take it, you should too" or maybe "Torture!...it''s not just for psychopaths now"
Don''t get me wrong, I am not saying he is a total Neanderthal but he is not going to "bond" with a woman VP they way Condi has with her work husband Bush.
Also lets all remember McCain''s hypocrisy in November, not just on torture, but campaign financing, and Bush policies. He went through a miraculous conversion to Bushishm when he did the math and realized how much money he would need to buy the presidency.
Reminds me of a guy name Slick Willie.
Where in the hell did they get this freakin'' story from.....somebody clearly has been smoking too many leafy vegetables. LOL
She would make Clinton look like a frumpy librarian by comparison. She can run circles around Obama in public speaking.
And, yes, folks--she is both black and female! And a true (ugh) conservative to boot! What more could the Republicans want? Do they want to win or lose the election? Do they think they can win with two white men?
It will never fly.
People want to turn the page and forget about the last 8 years. Electing that ticket would continue the Bu$h era and doom this nation.
Rice, although qualified for the job, would NOT be a good choice for McCain because she does not give balance to the ticket on ISSUES.....something I believe the American people care more about than pandering to demographics.
Rice is strong on national security....so is McCain. What does he gain with her on the ticket? He has claimed over and over how he is not strong on economics. So he would and SHOULD choose a VP with strength in economics.
I''m not surprised that The Nation thinks its readers or the American people are dumb enough to think that gender and race are the be-all end-all of what matters. It''''s not true for conservatives or most independents. But that''s NOT who The Nation is talking to......
Condie would remind of the disastrous Darth Bushit regime. The Repugs are running away from Bushit as fast as their stubby little legs will carry them.
No, Huckleberry is a much more likely choice.
Posted by blazercoach1 at 04:59 PM : Feb 14, 2008
That means so much coming from a Repug. No one paints you other than yourselves.
We all know that racism is a Repug plank of the GOP platform. They try to hide it but just look. And look at how far we have gone backwards since 2000.
Does Jena ring any bells?
Also, she will propose to Gary Coleman who will immediately dump his new bride for Rice.
You know....the previous governor of Louisianna was a DEMOCRAT. More people voted DEMOCRAT in the primaries. The state is far more balanced than you think.
As for me...I''m not racist/prejudiced enough to blame the Jena problem on anything but ignorance...which is universal. By the way, read anything about the young man involved in the Jena beating recently and his behavior in Dallas (Hebron High School)? I suppose you think it was a Republican who egged him on?
Come on.....just because YOU can''t think about the complexity of anything, don''t drag the rest of us down into your prejudices.
Rice, although qualified for the job, would NOT be a good choice for McCain because she does not give balance to the ticket on ISSUES.....something I believe the American people care more about than pandering to demographics.
Rice is strong on national security....so is McCain. What does he gain with her on the ticket? He has claimed over and over how he is not strong on economics. So he would and SHOULD choose a VP with strength in economics.
I''''m not surprised that The Nation thinks its readers or the American people are dumb enough to think that gender and race are the be-all end-all of what matters. It''''''''s not true for conservatives or most independents. But that''''s NOT who The Nation is talking to......
With this combo, Clinton & Obama don''t have a chance.
She is a cold killer if ever there was one.
Smart.
Knowledgeable.
Evil.
I don''t usually like to use the word "evil", but I''ll make an exception for her.
now we will know where they both are, they can''t steal as much when we watch,, can they?
McCain/BinLaden ''08
That''ll make a great bumper sticker!!
Richard Cheney is to be selected as the next VP. No change from the current lot, really.
-IMPEACH BUSH
Agreed. Doesn''t the Nation know our nations reflexive hatred of ''experts'' and ''smart people''? What do they think got Bush elected...twice??? No, two talking-heads is two too many for most Americans. McCain/Huckabee would be more to the liking of most bible-thumpers in the U.S. That way, once they were elected, McCain would probably be ''offed'' by these born-agains so one of their ''own'' could become President and order Armageddon against Islam.
"I don''t think Americans care if we are in Iraq for 10 years, 100 years, 10,000 years."
Second will be if McCain selects, or the Republican big wigs force Bushes ineffectual shill, Condoleeza Rice, as McCain/s vice presidential running mate.
This woman, Rice, should never have left academia and it would be wise if she returned to that profession post haste. It would be another nail in the Republican coffin to have this Bush puppet as McCain''s running mate.
Has she done ANYTHING successfully under Bush, either as Natl Security Advisor or as Sec of State?
Why not just tie an anchor around McCain''s neck and toss him in the ocean?
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