Some in GOP Hope Rice Runs for President

The Associated Press ^ | 7/19/05 | ANNE GEARAN

[CollegeRepublicanNU]

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been spending time in places like Israel and Italy instead of Iowa. Some Republicans hope she will turn from globe-trotting diplomat to barnstorming candidate for president.

The 2008 presidential race is still a long way off, and Rice, a Republican, is only seven months into her job at the State Department. Still, there are signs that she could take a shot at two historic precedents — the first woman president and the first black.

"She is a fascinating candidate," said Iowa State political science professor Steffen Schmidt, jumping the gun a bit. "She's a woman, she's conservative, she's got a foreign policy background and she's extremely smart."

Rice has hired numerous inside-Washington political operatives as some of her closest advisers, including many who worked with her in the White House and one who worked for President Bush's political guru, Karl Rove. Rice, a former professor, has a couple of fellow academics in her inner circle as well, but they are outnumbered.

She looked more like an aspiring mayor or governor waving to the crowd in New York City last month as she plugged that city's long-shot bid to host the 2012 Olympics. London won the competition.

Rice's extensive foreign travel and frequent interviews have raised her profile from her old job as Bush's national security adviser, and her designer wardrobe and changing hairstyles make her easily the most glamorous member of the administration.

Rice is famously close to Bush, who cannot run again and has not anointed anyone to run as the GOP candidate to succeed him. Bush's brother, Jeb, has repeatedly said he won't run in 2008, although their 81-year-old father, former President George H.W. Bush, has said he would like to see the Florida governor seek the White House.

Rice says little in public about her political plans, but she has acknowledged that she would love to be the commissioner of the National Football League one day. Interviewers keep asking Rice about a White House bid, however, and her recent answers are open to interpretation.

A few months ago she could not have been clearer when she told NBC's Meet the Press, "No, I will not run for president of the United States." Last month she told the same network this: "I don't want to run for anything. I really don't."

In the no-sometimes-means-yes world of presidential politics, that kind of wording gives Rice some wiggle room. It has also encouraged a growing online cheering section.

There are several Web sites devoted to a possible presidential run.

On Rice2008.com a $20 donation gets you a choice of bumper stickers, including this one: "Hillary '08? Not if Condi's running." At americansforrice.com, a site promoting a "draft Condi" movement, you can join an online discussion group called Team Condi.

"Condi has it all. An impeccable and impressive resume, brains, looks, artistic talent and accomplishment," gushed a fan named Paul, writing last month on another Web log.

"She cannot help but add to the ranks of black and female Republican voters, and would likely be a highly effective and popular president," he wrote.

Unauthorized Condi hats, T-shirts, even bobblehead dolls abound on the Internet, and there is a lively discussion of a forthcoming book by Dick Morris, former political adviser to President Clinton, titled "Condi v. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race."

The high-profile job and subsequent chatter about being the administration's superstar give her name recognition that other possible GOP candidates — a few governors, several senators — crave.

All that enthusiasm does not a political base make, or even a fundraising machine. Other potential candidates are already making the rounds in Iowa and New Hampshire, sites of the opening presidential selection contests, and lining up supporters and seasoned staff.

Rice has never been a candidate for elective office. Her views on matters beyond foreign policy aren't well known, although she has memorably labeled her position on abortion as "mildly pro-choice."

She was a chief architect of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and her political fortunes could be hinged to public support for the war and rebuilding efforts that are likely to continue in tandem during the run-up to the 2008 presidential election.

While there are examples from early in the nation's history of secretaries of state becoming president — six from 1801 to 1857 — there are none in the modern era.

Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a failed Democratic presidential candidate, found out the hard way last year that success in some foreign policy jobs does not automatically translate to the political realm.

Rice's chief obstacle, however, may be that she cannot really run for president while she is doing the very job that has made her most noticeable as a potential candidate, political analysts said.

"She's still a long shot," said Jack Pitney, government professor at Claremont McKenna College in Rice's adopted home state of California. "We can all take this buzz a lot more seriously when she starts saying nice things about ethanol" — the heavily subsidized corn additive dear to the voters of Iowa.

___

On the Net:

State Department: http://www.state.gov

Rice in 2008: http://www.Rice2008.com

Americans For Rice: http://www.americansforrice.com

[nuffsenuff]

And which third-party candidate are "up to a presidential status"?

[RockinRight]

Actually she's otherwise great.

[Montfort]

If Bush gets to appoint two or three more Scalias or Thomas', then Rice might be a good choice for Presidential nominee. She is brilliant, but I want a few true conservative S.Ct Justices first.

[CollegeRepublicanNU]

How about Condi for supreme court????? LOL... I truly would like to see Condi run, I know its not proper protocol for someone of her status to run but it really does not matter. I think she has SKILLS!!! She would be wonderful. And while 2008 is a little bit off, it doesn't hurt to start thinking. We have a lot of issues going on right now but its always good to run through who could be the next great leader. The more republicans we start throwing into the "might or should run" pot I think we more we can stir things up with the libs...

[ajolympian2004]

If Condi runs in 2008 I will put my life on hold from the time she announces until her victory on election day to volunteer 24/7 during that timeframe. A successful Condi Rice presidential campaign will cause a shift in American politics that will reverberate for many years into the future.

[section9]

A very backhanded article by Ann Gearan.

The very fact that Karen Hughes is working with her tells me that Condi is being groomed for the Big Chair. One blogger indicated that Hughes brought some of her campaign people over from her staff at the WH and sort of squirreled them away at Foggy Bottom offices, Vewwwy Qwieetly....

Hunting wabbits, you know...

The fact that some of Rove's people are at the State Department is quite telling, as well.

Anyway, it makes no sense for Condi to get out front now, anyway. If she jumps out front now, she puts a big huge target on her back. That's the mistake Hillary is making, only she doesn't know it yet.

It's only mid-2005. Nothing will gear up until latter 2006, and we'll have a much clearer sense of Bush's intent on the succession. He's a Harvard MBA. Succession planning is part of the curriculum there, and I don't think he'll leave this to chance.

Be Seeing You,

Chris