Posted on 03/01/2005 12:11:49 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Since moving from the White House to the State Department, Condoleezza Rice's star appears to be rising faster than any Washington politico, including President Bush and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Only the ailing Pope John Paul - with a whopping 78% favorability rating - got higher marks than the secretary of state in a new Gallup poll released yesterday.
"There's been less controversy lately than last year when Condi was testifying in Congress, and now she's in a much more prominent position," said Marist College pollster Lee Miringoff. "As secretary of state you add legitimacy to your power."
Rice, who already is being urged to run for President in 2008 by some, has a 59% favorability rating in the poll, while only 27% of respondents gave her an unfavorable score.
"When she was national security advisor, she looked like a staffer. Now she looks like someone running an important department," Miringoff added.
Bush trailed Rice with a 56% favorability rating, followed by Clinton, who's considered the Democratic presidential front-runner in four years, at 53%.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean lagged far behind the pack at 35%, and his numbers suggested he needs to raise his profile a bit. Some 14% of people polled said they had never heard of Dean, while another 18% had no opinion of him.
Please do not misunderstand me here, I am an enormous fan of Dr. Rice as a person of exemplary character, and a political supporter of her policy positions.
However, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Hillary is still a junior Senator, and though she may be ambitious, driven, conniving and ruthless, 2008 is not a "gimme" for her.
I also like Jeb Bush and IMHO, he should be considered very qualified on his own merits, but Americans have a built-in resistance to something which has a dynastic appearance in the oval office. (unless you are talking about liberal demonrats swooning over "camelot")
Condoleeza Rice needs more experience and credentials behind her name. Flatly stated, she needs to run for and serve as Governor of her home state before tackling the GOP primaries.
We need to identify a few different viable candidates (3-4) for the 2008 ticket, and as a party, we need to do it within the next 12 months. and start helping put them in visible positions of interacting with Bush and major policymakers of his administration, to undergird their credibility, and increase name familiarity.
Maybe Cheney/Frist for 2008, then Frist/Rice in 2012?
It is something to think seriously about.
A.A.C.
I repeat: Her character is good enough, her intellect is more than good enough, and her policies as we understand them are also in line with Conservative values, but she needs to hold ELECTED office. Part of that has to do with gaining the confidence of the major fundraisers - the rest of it is gaining the confidence of a wider base of voters
Eat your heart out, Hitlery-Puce Pelosi--and NOW in general.
BOOO and HISS, Cheny will not run and Frist excites me about as much as grilled eggplant
"I don't think a woman should run the whole shebang"
Guess what? Golda Meir ran Israel very successfully and God also used people like Deborah, Esther, etc. Look at her credentials, not her status...and finally, better look hard at who we'll need to beat the senator from NY...
Amen.
How do you speak thru your burka anyway?
> Guess what? Golda Meir ran Israel very successfully...
Don't forget President Reagan's soul mate, Margaret Thatcher. I just don't understand this "don't let a woman run the whole shebang" stuff.
Condi! Ping
So, that's your problem with Jeb Bush, his name? Anybody But (Any) Bush in '08?
"Condoleeza Rice needs more experience and credentials behind her name."
I don't know A.C. I would think NSA and Sec. of State would be adequate qualifiers. Consider, too, that Thomas Jefferson was Sec. of STate before he was president (albeit he served as vice president also). Remember also that George Washington was a general with no executive experience that we know of and he was a great president.
cheers!
We're lucky that rule exists.
It means we don't need to be concerned about Comrade Hillary.
> So, that's your problem with Jeb Bush, his name?
The Presidency should not be a family business.
If you are a geezer, as your handle implies, you will remember that once upon a time anyone with the name Kennedy was virtually guaranteed election. And that was a bad thing.
Pooh. Ignorant medieval nonsense. Maggie Thatcher was by far the best British prime minister in my lifetime.
Government is not like a religious instution. In a Republic, our representatives, from Presidents and Senators to mayors and dog catchers, are our hired help. We can choose anyone we want without violating Scripture. Their authority over us is rooted in the Constitution, not in their persons.
-ccm
Amazing. Screw whatever a candidate might bring to the table or what kind of a President he might be. We've already had two Presidents from his family. That disqualifies him.
If you are a geezer, as your handle implies, you will remember that once upon a time anyone with the name Kennedy was virtually guaranteed election. And that was a bad thing.
I guess I thought that was not simply because the Kennedys all had the same name, but because they are a bunch of corrupt-to-the-core SOBs.
Other Repub's like Gulliania and Pitaki? Or how about that traitor McCain? No thanks, the only one I trust is Jeb.
When? It's always been a free for all of independent thought.
It is conservative, just not stupid. What office has Condi ever run for and won? None. She is a piano playing neophyte in the world of politics and you wish to put her up against perhaps the smartest politician in the nation? Hillary would eat her for lunch. Jeb is the only CONSERVATIVE hope we have.
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