It's time of real conservatives to stand and fight!
Posted on 03/02/2005 8:01:42 PM PST by Space Cruiser
Dick Morris: US is ready for an Iron Lady
11feb05
AS she toured Europe this week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was like a rock star - her every movement, her every meeting covered by an adoring media.
The first black female US secretary of state is doing in public what she has always done in private - speaking frankly about her nation's priorities and the realities of the post-Cold War world. As she jokes with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, loosening up his dogmatic anti-US policies, lectures Russia about freedom and warns Israel of tough decisions ahead, one thing is obvious: A star is being born.
Travelling without the entourage customary for secretaries of state, on time, mapping out in advance her first six months of travel, Rice is a new force in US politics. As the Republican Party casts about for a viable presidential candidate in 2008 to keep Democratic senator Hillary Rodham Clinton out of the White House, attention will inevitably focus on Rice, the woman who may stand between Clinton and the presidency.
Like the Conservative Party in Britain when it named Margaret Thatcher as its leader in 1975, the GOP can break new ground. Rice is America's Thatcher. Like the Iron Lady, the US secretary of state fiercely believes in freedom and democracy. And since George W. Bush's success in Iraq has laid the basis for negotiations in the Middle East, there is every prospect that Rice may preside over a diplomatic triumph in catalysing discussions between Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas. The firm US stand in Iraq will also make more likely success in North Korea and Iran, all of which would add to Rice's stature.
The political fact is that a Rice candidacy would destroy the electoral chances of the Democratic Party by undermining its demographic base. John Kerry got 54 per cent of his vote from three groups that, together, account for about one-third of the US electorate: African-Americans, Hispanics and single white women. Rice would cut deeply into any Democratic margin among these three groups and would deny Clinton the strong support she would otherwise receive from each of them.
Rice's credentials for a candidacy are extensive and will grow throughout her tenure at the State Department. As a former provost of Stanford University, she would have much in common with the pre-politics careers of Woodrow Wilson and Dwight Eisenhower, presidents of Princeton and Columbia universities. Her service as national security adviser during a war and her present efforts as Secretary of State demonstrate her ability to handle crises and to conduct herself effectively and with dignity on the world stage.
As a social conservative and deeply religious person, she would face no bar in winning the votes of the Christian Right, so crucial to winning the Republican nomination. Unlike former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and senator John McCain -- either of whom could probably win the presidential election in 2008 -- she would be very attractive to the pro-life, anti-gun-control, anti-affirmative-action base of the GOP during the Republican primaries.
The US longs to put the period on the disgraceful chapter in the nation's history that began when the first slave arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, more than 400 years ago. And a message should be sent to every girl, and every African-American or Hispanic baby: that there is no ceiling and that you can rise as far as your ability will carry you. The day Rice is sworn in as president, regardless of the fate of her administration, that message and the punctuation of America's history of racism will be obvious.
Of course, she isn't running nor is there any indication that she is harbouring thoughts of a candidacy. But as her visibility increases, so will her viability. It may just be possible to draft Rice into the race. A real presidential draft movement hasn't happened since 1952, when Republicans urged Eisenhower to get into the race. A draft-Condi movement seems almost antiquated in this era of ambitious and self-promoting candidates, but it may well fill a deep need in the electorate to vote for someone who is running in response to a genuine call of the people.
Rice is a work in progress. Her rise has been impelled by her merits and achievements rather than any efforts on her part to curry favour in the media. She is still working and still progressing. But keep your eye on this political star. It is rising and may one day be ascendant.
Dick Morris, a Fox News political analyst and former senior adviser to Bill Clinton, is author, most recently, of Rewriting History (HarperCollins, 2004), a rebuttal of Hillary Clinton's Living History.
It's time of real conservatives to stand and fight!
Without question, though, Condi has the more compelling life story. And, how can you say that a person who personally knew two victims of civil rights violence, is a championship athlete, concert pianist, and speaks fluent Russian and French isn't qualified to be President when a fat, philandering, high-school band sax-playing low-life who ran the 49th worst state in the union made the cut?
I like to watch her eat liberals for lunch, however they're a very poor source of nutrition.
I don't care if it is a women or a man or whatever. It is their policies and positions that matter. What the heck does a candidate being a woman have to do with being qualified to be president.
Yep. Unfortunately there are plenty of people around here that are more than willing to simply because of the demographic appeal. If (ha!) Hillary runs, however, we may not have much of a choice.
Look here: http://www.americansforrice.com/
I wouldn't trust Rice as POTUS. She was a total failure as the NSA.
More empty-headed bloviating from the toe-sucker. BS.
But the toe sucker is on our side now.
toe boy is on his own side....he has no loyalty...he is FOR whoever is signing his check at the time.
First, me too.
Second, the only concern I have is that we are able to produce ANY candidate with an acceptable enough platform and ideologies that they can get the support of the entire conservative base.
Then again, in Hillary's case the "Anybody but..." vote that didn't work for the "No more Bush" cause may work against her.
Even if she is pro-choice, I suspect that she is against Roe v. Wade on the grounds that it should remain up to the states.
I think those boots got to the toe-sucker.
She's too one-dimensional in a lot of ways. We know her foreign policy and security philosophy, but haven't got a clue what her tax policy, economic policy, social policy, or position on social security or medicare might be. Those things are as important or more so than security to the average American.
Add that to the fact that she's a black woman, and the fact that neither major party has ever nominated either a black or a woman for President, because whether you like it or not, those factors impact the way voters vote. Of course, that wouldn't deter me from voting for her if she were nominated, but I would be nervous about her chances of winning, if I were to have to choose in the primary between her and someone equally good who did not have those handicaps.
As I said, though, I think she'd make a good President, and I would have no hesitance to support her for VP. It's the Presidential candidate that the voters vote for anyway, and I am quite certain that she could only help the ticket if she were in the no. 2 spot. She would definitely not be a drag on the ticket in the no. 2 spot.
I dont think anyone could know any candidates position of what those areas. Certainly not bush. Candidates can campaign on issues but if they are not strong leaders they will not get legislation passed. Condi has overwhelming respect by republicans and DEMOCRATS INSIDE DC. She has some of the greatest experience of a candidate male or female, black or white that has run in 50 years. Domestic experience with nation security director, International policy as secretary of state, and if she takes cheneys place next year legistlative ( president of senate)
She could represent a gigantic cultural shift in this country if elected. It would split the black vote from the jesse jackson crowd and the emergence of the black republican in this country. Sort of like the fall in the middle east. Believe me Bush has the foresight to make this happen.
I think that if Cheney quit and Bush appointed her VP, that would definitely alter the dynamics.
Pray for W and Terri
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