for transparent reasons in my view.
don't get me wrong, I admire her accomplishments but her stance on abortion kills the deal for me. I want my president to at least pretend to be pro-life. and I have not seen enough on her expertise aside from foreign policy to merit all this heroine worship except over her gender and race which don't mean squat to me.
however...I have no doubt that at this juncture the first woman or minority president will be ostensibly conservative.
nor do I think Jindhal lost due to racism. LA is strongly Dem (arguably the strongest and longest history of electing Dems in the country since Reconstrucion) and the image of Blanco ...however flawed ...was that she is a social conservative which is where the rubber meets the road down here.
I think most of the race baitors on this thread are reaching and canard purveying. LA can change though, it's just slow. It's the last southern state to get on board but it will in time hopefully. Arkansas is not the same issue. Hutchinson lost due to his messy divorce, hence we are back again to social conservatism being the defining factor here...not race. Conservatives will support a true conservative minority in a heartbeat and enjoy doing so.
I would say I am slightly prejudiced against women for the top spot. Yeah, I guess that makes me a horrible person. Oh well. I don't care about race. The hanger for me on Rice is just her leadership capabilities. Some of that comes through in a person's resume, and some of it is just the gut feeling you get. It's hard to define. But let's face it, what made Ronald Reagan so effective was mostly the stuff that's hard to define. That and his rock solid foundation of beliefs.
What are Rice's core beliefs? Why should I think she can persuade Americans? Why should I think she will be a shrewd negotiator. A tough customer? I don't have any reason to believe it.
Also, and I guess this makes me even more awful, I am prejudiced against highly educated intellectual bureacrats, and let's face it, that's what she is. I like the self made man. Maybe because I am one. So there. It doesn't have to make sense to anyone but me, anyway.
I didn't even know her position on abortion.