[Tennessean4Bush]

What if that is because Condi (who is from CA) prefers being Senator to Veep?

No way. Bush's VP or National Security Advisor is a much more powerful and interesting job. I would be very surprised if she leaves the President's inner circle and her position of extremely strong influence on international policy for a very risky race for a Senate seat once won will pale in prestige to National Security Advisor.

[AmishDude]

It's hard to say with Condi, because she doesn't have a typical politician's aspirations. I'm sure she'd be happy to be NSA for the rest of her life, but it may be stressful and she'd want to move on after one term. If she gets tired of public life, she'll be a University president anywhere she wants to go. Count on it, she's already been provost at Stanford.

The thing is, she'll have to quit NSA to run against Boxer, who she could beat. (Boxer has the disadvantage of being a complete moron.) But Feinstein is much tougher, even though the timing there would be better. I think the higher-ups in the Republican party are whispering "VPOTUS" or "POTUS" in her ear and it depends if she wants to listen or not.