Condi Rice Considering 2008 Run?
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James Joyner | Saturday, March 12, 2005 |
Bill Sammon has a feature on Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in today’s Washington Times indicating that she “pointedly declined to rule out running for president in 2008.”
She seemed bemused by speculation that a Rice candidacy could set up an unprecedented all-woman matchup with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, who is widely expected to seek the presidency.
“I never wanted to run for anything â I don’t think I even ran for class anything when I was in school,” she said. “I’m going to try to be a really good secretary of state; I’m going to work really hard at it. “I have enormous respect for people who do run for office. It’s really hard for me to imagine myself in that role.” She was then pressed on whether she would rule out a White House bid by reprising Gen. William T. Sherman’s 1884 declaration: “If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.” “Well, that’s not fair,” she protested with a chuckle. “The last thing I can â I really can’t imagine it.”
That hardly sounds like a veiled “Oh, yes, I’m certainly running” to me. It sounds much more like, “I’m almost certainly not running but I don’t want to be called a liar if I change my mind later.”
Other Republicans have questioned whether evangelical Christians, a crucial component of the Republican base, would turn out to vote for a pro-choice candidate. Miss Rice, a Presbyterian’s preacher’s daughter who twice in the interview spoke of her “deep religious faith,” suggested it’s a moot point. “I’m not trying to be elected.”
Although, it should be clear, she hasn’t pointedly ruled out trying to get elected.
The rest of the piece focuses on her mixed views on abortion as well as her love of nice clothes.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Condi Rice certainly isn't currently running for president. And it will be about two years before she could possibly even announce she was going to run. She cannot compromise her position as Secretary of State.
Somehow I just can't imagine her turning down running for president if President Bush called her into the Oval Office and nudged her toward running.
CONDI IS VERY SMART. SHE WON'T SAY SHE HAS PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRATIONS NOW THAT SHE JUST GOT IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT. SHE SAID SHE ALWAYS WANTED TO RUN FOOTBALL, BUT SHE ACCEPTED THE TOP DIPLOMATIC JOB IN A HEARTBEAT! DOES THAT GIVE YOU A CLUE OF WHAT'S IN HER MIND? IF HER DREAM JOB WAS TO RUN THE NFL SHE WOULD HAVE NEVER ACCETED BEING SECRETARY OF STATE IN A SECOND BUSH ADMINISTRATION. AS THE HILLARY'S CAMPAIGN GROWS IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS, CONDI WILL BE MOST THAN HAPPY TO CHALLEGE HER. OF COURSE, WITH THE HELP OF DUBYA AND THE PEOPLE. CONDI WILL DENY RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AT LEAST UNTILL THE END OF 2006 WHEN DICK CHENEY MIGHT STEP ASIDE,MCAIN AND GULLIANI REALIZE THEY DONT HAVE ANY CHANCES TO BEAT HILLARY. THE WHITE HOUSE WILL BE REPUBLICAN FOR AT LEAST 7 MORE YEARS.
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