Rice Rules Out VP Run

Condi Rice will not be John McCain’s running mate.

Rice Rules Out VP Run Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calls on a reporter during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 to discuss her recent trip to Africa. (AP Photos/Susan Walsh) Condoleezza Rice’s name on the Republican ticket is a dream to some, but not a reality she can see happening.

The secretary of State told reporters Friday she will not be a vice presidential candidate in the upcoming election. “I have always said that the one thing that I have not seen myself doing is running for elected office in the United States,” she said at a news conference to discuss her recent trip to Africa. “I didn’t even run for high school president. It’s sort of not in my genes.” Instead, Rice told reporters: “You can all come and visit me in California.”

Rice has said she plans to return to Stanford University, where she served as provost and taught as a professor.

She said she is looking forward to making her choice for president as a voter after being involved in President Bush’s 2000 campaign and having a strong interest in his 2004 re-election.

“I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing as secretary of State to see if we can use the last few months, as the president has put it, to sprint to the finish because there’s a lot of work to do,” Rice said.

Rice, like most Bush administration officials, is damaged goods at this point. Whatever excitement she might have engendered in 2000 or 2002, it’ll be a while before she’s an attractive political figure.

And it may well be that she’s more interested in being part of the team than the quarterback. Not everyone in public life wants to be president someday.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. DC Loser says:

    She’s waiting for the NFL Commissioner position to open up.

  2. Triumph says:

    Even McCain isn’t dumb enough to pick an incompetent liar as his running mate. Condi’s only “expertise” is her failed performance in the realm of foreign affairs.

    Since McCain seems to think he has similar expertise and has been forthright that he doesn’t know anything about domestic policy, he will be better served getting a domestic policy guru as his running mate.

    Unfortunately, the Republican party doesn’t have many high-profile experts in domestic policy. The only person with any integrity would be Hank Paulson, but he isn’t really a politician and wouldn’t really help McCain on the stump.

  3. rodney dill says:

    She’s waiting for the NFL Commissioner position to open up.

    Since Dubya’s targeting Commissioner of Baseball