Condoleezza Rice for VP with Romney?

[aceplace57]

I can't think of anyone with better credentials for VP. She's so well respected and would be a huge asset for Romney. Condi was the only positive thing I ever saw in the Bush administration.

The big question is... Can they pry her out of Stanford? Is she rested and ready to get back in the fray?

Rice would be a political game changer for the 2012 race.

A CNN/ORC poll from last week asked Republicans and Republican-leaning independents to pick their preference for Romney’s running mate. At the top was a surprise choice: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She attracted 26 percent support. Rick Santorum won second place with 21 percent support. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio were tied for third place with 14 percent each. At the meeting of state GOP chairmen in Arizona last week half of them told a National Journal reporter they wanted Romney to pick Rice.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/...tcmp=obnetwork

[BrainGlutton]

She's a lesbian. Like with Janet Reno, nobody talked about it but everybody knew. That's fine for a Cabinet post, but a Veep candidate comes under a whole different wattage of spotlight.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by BG

She's a lesbian.

You don't know that.


She's not a social conservative. Romney needs to pick a social conservative.

[Ethilrist]

Ah. One or two more reasons why McCain didn't pick her as his running mate, in addition to her being taller than he is.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by John Mace

You don't know that.

It ain't enough not to know it, for GOP-nomination purposes they would have to know the contrary for sure. And nobody does.

As a "confirmed bachelor" who is not in any sense gay or bi, I know what people will say of the middle-aged-and-unmarried. Fair or unfair, that's how it is.

[waterj2]

I'm pretty sure she's pro-choice. That's not going to fly with the Republican base.

[independentDemocrat]

Condi is politically garbage and a coward... but dang she is hot. I met her a couple times and was stunned by her beauty.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by John Mace

She's not a social conservative. Romney needs to pick a social conservative.

And, she also has a certain immutable characteristic which would bar even Alan Keyes from serious consideration, here, and it has nothing to do with sexual orientation.

[Jonathan Chance]

Originally Posted by BrainGlutton

She's a lesbian. Like with Janet Reno, nobody talked about it but everybody knew. That's fine for a Cabinet post, but a Veep candidate comes under a whole different wattage of spotlight.

Will you stop with the fucking gay-baiting? You dishonor everything you say you stand for concerning equality when you do that. You're just as bad as that Focus on the Family assholes who forced Romney to drop Grenell when you show that you can only see the demographics.

I am a Democrat, and more than a talker. And I don't want you on my side when you say things like that.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Chance

Will you stop with the fucking gay-baiting? You dishonor everything you say you stand for concerning equality when you do that. You're just as bad as that Focus on the Family assholes who forced Romney to drop Grenell when you show that you can only see the demographics.

I am a Democrat, and more than a talker. And I don't want you on my side when you say things like that.

I say only that Condi Rice, for that reason alone (and even if she were white and socially conservative), will never make an acceptable Republican Veep-nominee. And I'm right, and you know I'm right. I do not express approval of that undeniable situation.

[alphaboi867]

Originally Posted by Ethilrist

Ah. One or two more reasons why McCain didn't pick her as his running mate, in addition to her being taller than he is.

She also stopped just short of endorsing Obama.

[zamboniracer]

Originally Posted by independentDemocrat

Condi is politically garbage and a coward... but dang she is hot. I met her a couple times and was stunned by her beauty.

Condi is hot? I'd say she's nice-looking and/or kind of pretty, but I wouldn't go as far as calling her hot.

I've never seen her in person or up close though. I was in the same building with her once, during a Notre Dame/Stanford football game at ND Stadium. There were only 80,000 other people there though so you can see how I missed her.

[R. P. McMurphy]

Here pathetic testimony in front of the 9-11 Commission is enough to disqualify her from any high office.

[aceplace57]

If Republicans want to stay relevant, they need to embrace all races and even the Gay rights movement. Condi as a VP nominee would be a very good first step. Whether they will do it in this election is questionable. The Tea Party has a lot of moderate Republicans looking for cover.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Condi brings Bush baggage. I think Condi has a lot of things going for her, but whether it's enough to overcome baggage is the political math that needs to be done.

I think its going to be Rand Paul. It makes too much sense.

Whoever it is, if the Romney campaign senses that its slipping, they'll push for a wild haymaker pick. If they think they can plod along and stay safe, they will.

[R. P. McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Least Original User Name Ever

Condi brings Bush baggage. I think Condi has a lot of things going for her, but whether it's enough to overcome baggage is the political math that needs to be done.

I think its going to be Rand Paul. It makes too much sense.

Whoever it is, if the Romney campaign senses that its slipping, they'll push for a wild haymaker pick. If they think they can plod along and stay safe, they will.

I disagree with that. Rand Paul is even crazier than his dad. Picking him would just cement the notion that Romney has let himself become a tool of the extreme right. Extremism doesn't win general elections.

The more likely candidate is Rubio. Get some Hispanic vote and hope to swing Florida, which again, could determine the outcome of the election.

[emcee2k]

Wow, straight to calling her a lesbian and commenting on her physical appearance.

[R. P. McMurphy]

Originally Posted by emcee2k

Wow, straight to calling her a lesbian and commenting on her physical appearance.

Sort of like calling Palin a "nutjob" and commenting on her physical appearance.

Of course, in fairness, the standard-bearer of the right, Limbaugh, would never call a woman a "slut" or comment on her physical appearance (Hillary and Chelsea).

[Captain Amazing]

I agree that she's not socially conservative enough and that her association with the Bush administration will probably keep her from getting picked. I disagree with the obvious gaybaiting. I think it's going to be, if not John Thune, somebody like him. A legislator with solid conservative credentials without much in the way of controversy or personal scandal.

The Republicans got burned with Sarah Palin last time, partly because they focused on trying to pick a game changing, "interesting" candidate that would shake stuff up for the McCain campaign. So I think the message is going to be this year, "Look, you had four years of 'celebrity' Obama, and look what happened. But now the adults are in the room. We're boring, but we know how to create jobs and get government off your back."

[Chronos]

So I think the message is going to be this year, "Look, you had four years of 'celebrity' Obama, and look what happened. But now the adults are in the room. We're boring, but we know how to create jobs and get government off your back."

Except without so much emphasis on "look what happened", but rather "look what sort of might have happened but didn't actually, if you squint at it".

[Captain Amazing]

I don't think they're going to actually say that. Their message isn't going to be, "The economy isn't terrible, but we're going to pretend it is." Their message is going to be "The economy is bad and Obama hasn't been able to fix it. We will." The fact that you don't like their characterization doesn't mean they won't claim it.

[Starving Artist]

Saw Condi Rice on Piers Morgan's show a few months ago. Morgan kept after her as to whether she might run for president, and, after several tactful declinations regarding her accomplishments and how they were fulfilling enough and she had no further interest in public office, finally cut him off with a firm "That's a no, Piers!".

[Kolak of Twilo]

Why does anyone think she would give up a tenure track position at Stanford? To be Veep with Mittens?

No Effing Way.

[Little Nemo]

No way is this going to happen.

Why on earth would Romney want to associate himself with Bush's foreign policy?

Why would Romney want to invite comparisons to McCain's VP choice by picking another woman?

Why would Romney want to remind black voters that the Democrats nominated a black candidate for the Presidency while the Republicans only let them ride the back of the bus?

Why would Romney want to throw away the racist vote? And regardless of whether or not Rice is actually gay, the rumors are out there so Romney would also be throwing away the homophobe vote.

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

Originally Posted by Kolak of Twilo

she would give up a tenure track position at Stanford?

I think she's already got tenure.

[Smapti]

Originally Posted by independentDemocrat

Condi is politically garbage and a coward... but dang she is hot. I met her a couple times and was stunned by her beauty.

Moammar, is that you?

[Gyrate]

I'm rather disappointed that this thread leapt straight to "she's a black lesbian" first as the reason she won't be Veep. I think the "she has absolutely no reason to want the job, even if Mitt was a shoo-in to win" argument holds a lot more sway.

See also: General Petraeus.

[gamerunknown]

Originally Posted by Captain Amazing

We're boring, but we know how to create jobs and get government off your back.

The former I agree with for moderate Mitt, though if he lets the Libertarian camp influence his policy, he'd see the boon of necessary unemployment.

The latter, definitely not. He advocates increasing government surveillance and opposed describing waterboarding as torture.

[Least Original User Name Ever]

Originally Posted by R. P. McMurphy

I disagree with that. Rand Paul is even crazier than his dad. Picking him would just cement the notion that Romney has let himself become a tool of the extreme right. Extremism doesn't win general elections.

The more likely candidate is Rubio. Get some Hispanic vote and hope to swing Florida, which again, could determine the outcome of the election.

Ron's retiring, and it makes sense for his apparatus to go to his son. The only enthusiasm for any Republican candidate is over Ron Paul, and the only young people coming into the party in any number comes from Dr. Paul. Rubio's making the rounds and trying out for the job, clearly, but Rubio and Rand Paul have the same amount of federal legislation experience.

[hajario]

Condi has said many times that she has zero interest in the job and I believe her. She loves being an academic, still makes loads of money giving speaches and has a comfortable life. No way will she give that up.

[Eve]

She has got to lose her "Peggy/Powerpuff Girls" do, though.

http://www.blogcdn.com/main.stylelis...0-khz10410.jpg
http://images.wikia.com/powerpuff/im...93-299-320.jpg

[Bob Ducca]

Hasn't she said a bunch of times how much she'd love the job of NFL commissioner?

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by Least Original User Name Ever

Ron's retiring, and it makes sense for his apparatus to go to his son. The only enthusiasm for any Republican candidate is over Ron Paul, and the only young people coming into the party in any number comes from Dr. Paul. Rubio's making the rounds and trying out for the job, clearly, but Rubio and Rand Paul have the same amount of federal legislation experience.

You remember all the threads asking why Gingrich was staying in the race when his campaign was so obviously hopeless? Well, Gingrich's campaign was significantly stronger than Paul's.

I don't see how you can claim that there's any big enthusiasm for Paul when he's doing so poorly that nobody's even bothering to suggest he drop out of the race. He's a non-factor.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by hajario

Condi has said many times that she has zero interest in the job and I believe her. She loves being an academic, still makes loads of money giving speaches and has a comfortable life. No way will she give that up.

On the plus side, if she ran with Romney she wouldn't have to give it up. She'd really only have to take a six month sabbatical and then she could go back to academics.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by hajario

Condi has said many times that she has zero interest in the job and I believe her. She loves being an academic, still makes loads of money giving speaches and has a comfortable life. No way will she give that up.

Yeah, this too. She has to want it, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't. SecState is a better job than VP, and she's already done that.

She's an odd candidate because she is full of pluses and minuses. But in the end, they don't really matter because I don't believe she would accept.

[BobLibDem]

I don't care about her appearance, orientation, or whether she and Bush did the double nasty. She is by all accounts extraordinarily bright. But what did she accomplish as Secretary of State? From what I recall, she was bowled over by Cheney whenever she dared express a contrarian view. I don't think she would do much to close the gender gap, women voters are looking at the policies and don't simply vote for the Utero-American. I don't think she'd pull much of the black vote, either, since being pro-choice wouldn't appeal to those black Americans who have a hard time with Obama's pro-choice, pro-gay marriage policies. I'm just not seeing a positive in her candidacy, which she clearly has no interest in. Ain't gonna happen.

[BigAppleBucky]

She would be a strong choice. Romney's foreign policy chops need shoring up and very few Republicans outside of Rice have as good a reputation. (Colin Powell excepted)

[Lobohan]

I think there is a lot of misunderstanding going on in this thread. When someone mentions her as a lesbian, they aren't decrying her as a lesbian, they're decrying the GOP, who hate homosexuals.

I'd like there to finally be a LGBT person to hold pres/vice, if only to show the haters that they are normal people. But it really, really doesn't look like it's going to be someone in the GOP. Romney just kicked out a staffer because the right was outraged that he hired a gay dude.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by BobLibDem

I don't care about her appearance, orientation, or whether she and Bush did the double nasty. She is by all accounts extraordinarily bright. But what did she accomplish as Secretary of State? From what I recall, she was bowled over by Cheney whenever she dared express a contrarian view. I don't think she would do much to close the gender gap, women voters are looking at the policies and don't simply vote for the Utero-American. I don't think she'd pull much of the black vote, either, since being pro-choice wouldn't appeal to those black Americans who have a hard time with Obama's pro-choice, pro-gay marriage policies. I'm just not seeing a positive in her candidacy, which she clearly has no interest in. Ain't gonna happen.

Agree with this.

Everyone is discussing her qualifications and electibility, but the real point to ponder is why so many people find her a compelling choice. I see the scorecard stacking up this way:

1. Celebrity - to the People magazine level voters in the Republican party, she's a celebrity - much like Palin. They don't really know much about her accomplishments or her views, just that they recognize her face and name.
2. Female - There is definitely an appetite in Republican circles for the Great Female Hope.
3. Black - Even though we assume there are a lot of racists to deal with in the Republican arena, there are also a lot looking for the Great Black Hope. Being a cerebral type she's like a bookend to Obama. This makes her an acceptable type of Black to them.
4. Tabula Rasa - Similar to what I noted above, she is frankly an unknown to the downmarket voters, they easily project onto her all sorts of fuzzy notions about what she stands for - true or not. This would likely change after a few cycles of scrutiny.

[Marley23]

No way on earth this is going to happen. Whenever somebody makes a suggestion like this and says "It would be a game changer," you can rest assured they're just filling column space and didn't feel like doing any real work that week. Rice has said she's not interested and the pick makes no sense for Romney anyway.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by BigAppleBucky

She would be a strong choice. Romney's foreign policy chops need shoring up and very few Republicans outside of Rice have as good a reputation. (Colin Powell excepted)

Well, modesty aside, there's me. Admittedly, I have zero reputation in foreign policy. But that puts me ahead of Rice who has a negative reputation.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by BobLibDem

I don't care about her appearance, orientation, or whether she and Bush did the double nasty. She is by all accounts extraordinarily bright. But what did she accomplish as Secretary of State? From what I recall, she was bowled over by Cheney whenever she dared express a contrarian view. .

Quite the contrary. She influenced Bush to see a more diplomatic tact as the better way, prompting Cheney to say Bush had "gone soft". She was very successful in pushing Cheney aside-- something Powell was unable to do. Now, maybe that's because Bush trusted her more than he trusted Powell, but she went up against both Rumsfeld and Cheney and won.

[Kolak of Twilo]

Originally Posted by pseudotriton ruber ruber

I think she's already got tenure.

On reflection, I'm sure you are correct. Even more reason she would never be remotely interested. Why would she want the aggravation?

[TonySinclair]

Originally Posted by Little Nemo

Why on earth would Romney want to associate himself with Bush's foreign policy?

He has no problem associating himself with Bush's economic policy, which IMO was worse for the US than his foreign policy.

[Little Nemo]

Originally Posted by TonySinclair

He has no problem associating himself with Bush's economic policy, which IMO was worse for the US than his foreign policy.

Tough call. But I have to stick with his foreign policy being worse. Got to go with the higher body count.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally Posted by emcee2k

Wow, straight to calling her a lesbian and commenting on her physical appearance.

Yeah, pretty awful.

At the same time, I think if she were a lesbian, it wouldn't hurt her chances none. Yes, the Republican party right now has a huge homophobic streak and no doubt. What better beard for their homophobia than to be the first party to nominate a gay person to a major position? I guarantee that if it happened, every time the party were accused of homophobia, she'd be trotted out as a counterexample; and any time some idiot Democrat made a joke about her being lesbian, Republicans would hoot triumphantly at how bigoted Democrats were, as if having some idiots on the Democratic side were morally equivalent to making legislated bigotry a centerpiece of the party's ideology.

So it's not going to happen, and comments about politician's sex lives and/or appearances should be off the table. But I wouldn't be that surprised if the first openly gay president or veep candidate is Republican, precisely because it'd be such an effective beard.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by emcee2k

Wow, straight to calling her a lesbian and commenting on her physical appearance.

Originally Posted by Left Hand of Dorkness

Yeah, pretty awful.

Talking about her appearance is dumb. BrainGlutton wasn't calling her a lesbian as a taunt, though; he was saying she wouldn't be offered the position because she's a lesbian. And I don't know if she is, but it may be true and it is definitely true that Romney just took a lot of flack for hiring an openly gay spokesman (and the spokesman quickly resigned after being pushed into the background). So if any Republican breaks down this barrier, it is not going to be Romney.

But I wouldn't be that surprised if the first openly gay president or veep candidate is Republican, precisely because it'd be such an effective beard.

The party doesn't want a beard. Gay or pro-gay Republicans have a shot at prominent positions in relatively liberal areas, but in a national election it wouldn't work because anti-gay policies (opposition to same-sex marriage and adoption for same-sex couples, support for DOMA and even for a possible return of DADT) are a real part of their platform. We heard for a long time that the first black president would be a Republican and then it didn't happen. Republicans recognize that being perceived as racist is a bad thing and they really don't want their policies to be interpreted as racist, but they don't feel that way about their policies with regard to gays.

[dropzone]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Chance

Will you stop with the fucking gay-baiting? You dishonor everything you say you stand for concerning equality when you do that. You're just as bad as that Focus on the Family assholes who forced Romney to drop Grenell when you show that you can only see the demographics.

Yeah! And anyway, everybody knows she was fucking Dubya. Read a paper while at the checkout for once, willya?

[Shodan]

Originally Posted by Marley23

BrainGlutton wasn't calling her a lesbian as a taunt, though...

Don't be ridiculous; of course he was. if she ever decide to run they would call her a house nigger and a lesbian and a crook and anything else they can think of. SOP for the tolerant left.

Regards,
Shodan

[Cheryl44]

They tried a token woman last time and the women didn't vote for the ticket. So they'll pick a male Latino this time and see if they can get the Latino vote.