Grover Norquists Endorses Rice for VP
This is quite interesting: Grover Norquist - the man who has declared a war on taxes - endorses current US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for Vice President. He also said that he doesn’t know whether she’s actively lobbying to come John McCain’s running mate but, he added, “if she is, she’s doing it the right way.”
He was tremendously impressed by Rice two weeks ago, when she seemingly tried to convince “a rapt audience” that she would be a great VP.
It was Rice’s first appearance ever before the influential huddle of Washington conservatives, thus it was the first time many right-leaning thinkers around town had had a chance to hear from her firsthand; usually, she sends a deputy from the State Department to talk to the gathering, as other Cabinet secretaries do.
But this time, Rice wanted to address the group of activists and writers personally. And Norquist, who hosts the meetings, says many attendees “left the room saying, ‘This is a woman who could be president.’” [...]
Norquist, whose latest conservative tome is titled “Leave Us Alone: Getting the Government’s Hands Off Our Money, Our Guns, Our Lives”, says Rice is “very, very good on the Second Amendment.” And guns, he points out, right up there with tax cuts, is a “key issue” with the intellectual conservative set that frequents his Wednesday meetings.
And even though Rice is known for her foreign policy acumen, not her economic policies, Norquist says he’s comfortable with her because, heck, “she’s from Stanford and hangs out with all those [economics] guys.”
The problem is that if McCain picks Rice as his running mate, he aligns himself with one of the least popular administrations in decades. The advantage of picking Rice, however, is that she’s knowledgeable, experienced, and - of course - a woman of color. She may not be able to convince many African-Americans to vote Republican if Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee - and he’ll be just that - but it would most certainly counter the charge that (many / most) Republicans are sexists and racists.
Far more importantly though, I think that Rice is a good politician, and that she would make a good VP. The VP doesn’t have to be the strongest of characters. The US doesn’t, in my opinion, need another Dick Cheney. It needs someone who is more than willing to play second violin. And Rice, I think, will be satisfied with being a more traditional VP (compared to Cheney, who basically considers the VP to be the second president, albeit one who doesn’t have to tell the people what he’s doing).
I may disagree about Rice with quite some American conservatives, and I think that this is because she’s not conservative enough, or not neoconservative enough perhaps, to satisfy the American far-right. But that’s yet another reason that I like her. She’s far more moderate and pragmatical than, say, a Donald Rumsfeld, a Dick Cheney, or George W. Bush. She’s more of a problem solver, and someone who’s able to understand nuances.
Politically it may not be overly wise to pick Rice as running mate (Bush administration), but I would certainly understand it if McCain goes ahead and picks her as his VP anyway.
Excuse me, but Condi Rice brings a strong voice to the ticket to defend our 2nd amendment as well as bringing Alabama and California into play for the electoral college game.
She is an example of self-made success in life, based on education, hard work, and being strong-willed. No wonder there have been 5 books published about her during the past 12 months. She is a blend of the party of Reagan and the party of Lincoln.
Go Condi, and if McCain puts you on the ticket, I will be in Washington DC to see you sworn in as his VP. I pray for you to remain safe in all of your international diplomatic visits.
As far as ability and experience goes, Rice would be a strong VP candidate. And she would indeed put a strong black female face on the party image. But as far as electability goes, not so much. Image-wise, she carries the Bush baggage.
McCain’s challenge is to pick someone who reinforces his candidacy with the farther right conservatives, while not carrying in the worst of the Bush baggage as seen by the moderates and independents. (Note we’re talking image, not susbtance here–elections are all about image.) Not an easy task.
I think Tully’s nailed it. Though I personally like Condi Rice, I think she’d harm the ticket because the Bush association would outweigh all other benefits.
And on top of that, Grover Norquist endorsing her as the VP choice would be the kiss of death to the moderate/independent vote.
From another (more simplistic) angle of analysis, of Mike Reynolds’ Money, Bombs, and Jesus wing-description of the party, McCain already has the Bombs wing covered all by himself. Condi is great Bombs support, but she doesn’t bring in any Money or Jesus, and right now what McCain needs is Money and/or Jesus. Jesus would scare off the moderates and indies. So the safest bet is that McCain will pick Money that doesn’t scare off Jesus. Look for a solid fis-con pick who hasn’t noisily backed any major social-liberal policies.
Personally I’d love to see Rice run for office. I just don’t think the VP slot on a McCain ticket is the right place for her at this point in time. But she could likely walk into the Senate if she picked the right state.
Look for a solid fis-con pick who hasn’t noisily backed any major social-liberal policies.
Yep, and if he can find someone like that who’s also young and popular in one of they key contentious states, with either minority status or feminine gender being desirable but not necessary characteristics, he might have it wrapped up. Also, it would help to pick someone from outside DC, probably a governor- to further avoid Bush baggage.
Oh- and charismatic and independently wealthy would be nice.
I’d rather vote for a rice/mccain than a mccain/rice ticket…but then I’m not a republican (and neither is mccain?). Bush was too weak dealing with other countries and trying to appeal to UN sissies too much, but that’s not entirely rice’s fault.
I gotta agree with Tully on this one, as well. McCain doesn’t need foreign policy cred, he needs a VP who is well-versed on economic issues, which will become increasingly important as we get closer to November. Rice did not shine as Bush’s NSA during his first term, and she has had a mixed performance as Sec State, tho none would doubt her academic brilliance .
That recent poll suggests I could be very wrong on Rice’s viability as a VP. Then again, polls taken this far out don’t mean all that much. What’s undeniable from the poll is that Rice is very very popular with Republicans and moderates.