If she had said she voted for Obama every lefty sits out there would be trumpeting it. I think you mistook her praise of him for an admission that she voted for him. I think you misheard.
sits should have been site.
Nope. I've got a VERY good memory. It was obvious that Obama's "blackness" was, in her mind, his most important characteristic, not his competence or experience (other than the "black experience", that is).
And a quick search shows that she has actively supported virtually everything he has done as president since his election.
The simple fact is that Rice sold out on the basis of race.