# Condi Rice for VP? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 26, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852 "2008-03-26T23:42:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/41 "2008-03-27T16:05:32Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Someone doing an unfathomably shitty job getting a promotion- let’s hope not. [/QUOTE] Isn’t that par for the course at the GOP nowadays? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/42 "2008-03-27T18:12:49Z")
[QUOTE=DoctorJ] That’s what I thought–she had kept it more or less “deniable”, but hadn’t really denied it. That’s fine as SoS or NSA . . . [/QUOTE] . . . or [USAG](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Reno) . . . ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/43 "2008-03-28T02:15:46Z")
In case you haven’t seen it, CNN has some nice [profiles](http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/27/possible.vice.presidents/index.html) of potential contenders. I had once _joked_ about Condi. Further cementing himself to a failed administration’s failings? She pull the Black vote away from Obama? If anything it might dull the turn-out of those who are scared by Obama’s complexion! I hadn’t heard about the one I have queued up - Chris Cox - before this. Mainly I’d been hearing about Charlie Crist, Bobby Jindal, and Mitt Romney. But Cox brings a lot of what McCain needs. As SEC chair he brings the McCain more economic gravitas than Romney does without the animosity. More can be read about him [here](http://www.sec.gov/about/commissioner/cox.htm) and it can be seen that he in particular is big on providing additional transparency to the financial markets, which fits with McCain’s mindset. He also is experienced with Homeland Security issues which also meshes well with McCain’s preferred narrative. He moves to my best guess with my former guess, Crist, next and then Romney and Jindal. Crist would assure Florida is in the fold, Romney would also bring some economic muscle and Jindal would excite about a new generation of leadership and big tentness. Condi? No way. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/44 "2008-03-28T02:39:04Z")
[QUOTE=DSeid] In case you haven’t seen it, CNN has some nice [profiles](http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/27/possible.vice.presidents/index.html) of potential contenders. [/QUOTE] Interesting ideas, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/45 "2008-03-28T13:46:39Z")
[QUOTE=DSeid] I hadn’t heard about the one I have queued up - Chris Cox - before this. Mainly I’d been hearing about Charlie Crist, Bobby Jindal, and Mitt Romney. [/QUOTE] [Ain’t gon’ be Crist.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=460708) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/46 "2008-03-28T15:49:44Z")
I’ve heard that Minnesota Governor [Tim Pawlenty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Pawlenty) is the front runner as McCain’s VP choice. He’s been working on McCain’s campaign so he’s an insider. And he’s a conservative but not too controversial. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/47 "2008-03-28T16:36:47Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] I’ve heard that Minnesota Governor [Tim Pawlenty](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Pawlenty) is the front runner as McCain’s VP choice. He’s been working on McCain’s campaign so he’s an insider. And he’s a conservative but not too controversial. [/QUOTE] There’s been a lot of talk about that up here, but I’d be surprised if he was the pick. For one thing, he’s not very popular in his own state right now and I doubt he could deliver Minnesota (somewhat regarded as a “purple” state) in November. For another thing, he’s got some positions which might be problematic for the Republican base, namely on global warming and immigration. The latter is an issue which is already a sore spot for conservatives ambivalent on McCain. What righties would probably like about T-Paw is that he is economically a conservative extremist – ruthlessly, sociopathologically conservative. Don’t let him fool you when he tries to say he didn’t raise taxes, though. His tactic was to impose a sales tax and then call it a “users fee” instead of a tax. He’d act all indignant if someone else called it a tax. On a personal level, I hear he’s kind of a dick. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/48 "2008-03-28T18:59:24Z")
Please Mccain, do pick Rice; that way we can just go ahead and qualify the Dem’s primary as the general election. Hell while he’s at it might as well bring in Cheney as Sec Defense and Rummy as UN Ambasador. Jindal would be an interesting pick. He scares the hell out off me because he is about Rush-right on every issue, but I would love to see the far-right voters and pundits have to deal with themselves over having an Indian-American on the ticket. I’m surprised no one, including CNN, has mentioned [Sen. Olympia Snowe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowe) of Maine. Having a woman from the NE could help among independents, and from her profile it sounds like she is pretty centrist and to the left of most Republicans. I doubt she would appeal to many in Mccain’s “base”, but personally speaking as a ‘bleeding heart dirty liberal’, if we have to run the chance of Mccain being elected, than this is who I would feel safest with behind him. The only flaw I would see if I was Mccain, is having two Senators on the ticket. Of course, it is probably for all these same reasons she won’t be picked, but who knows. It would be pretty neat to see a debate between her and Sebelius(my pick for Obama’s VP). Hillary who? 😛 But at least as far as Republicans go Snowe seems too good to be true. Can any one from Maine, or anywhere up there really, fight my ignorance and tell me anything I should be wary of with her? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/49 "2008-03-28T19:10:41Z")
[QUOTE=Hamlet] It’s been asked before, but I’ll ask again. Why? What has she done that is “impressive”. Granted she held two high profile positions in this administration, but as far as actual accomplishments, what is there? Iraq? Middle East peace? Violations of FISA while she was National Security Advisor? I understand her whole schtick of “Transformational Democracy”, but that’s pretty much just the continuation of US policy for the last few decades. Support democracies. Reject authoritarianism (unless they have a lot of oil or can help us some other way). I don’t see any of her work in the Israel/Palestianian problem having any long term success (which I wouldn’t hold against her, kudos for her trying though). I just don’t see the “impressive” part. Please, educate me. [/QUOTE] Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/50 "2008-03-28T22:48:12Z")
Condi [re-stated today](http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/03/rice_on_race_a_paradox_for_thi.html) that she’s not interested in the job… > [@](#): > > Rice told the _Times_ again that she is “not interested” in the vice presidential job and she planned to return to her California home when the Bush administration ends in January 2009. > > “It’s time for new blood,” Rice said. If you follow the link, you’ll also see where she had positive things to say about Obama’s race speech. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/51 "2008-03-29T00:30:32Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] She’d never do that. She doesn’t like Dick. [/QUOTE] Awesome double entendre! Bravo! you _did_ mean that as a double entendre, right? ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/52 "2008-03-29T02:07:44Z")
[QUOTE=tds1273] Jindal would be an interesting pick. He scares the hell out off me because he is about Rush-right on every issue, but I would love to see the far-right voters and pundits have to deal with themselves over having an Indian-American on the ticket. [/QUOTE] No, for the millionth time, we conservatives are not racists. If you read the conservative blogs you will read nothing but praise for democracy in India and the benefits of outsourcing to India. It is the leftists who are the nativists and protectionists. And BTW, nothing but praise for Jindal. In fact, I’d love to see a cite where a reputable conservative had anything bad to say about Jindal. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/53 "2008-03-29T02:14:34Z")
[QUOTE=Hamlet] I just don’t see the “impressive” part. Please, educate me. [/QUOTE] I think it’s hard to answer questions like this because foreign policy is a team effort and it’s impossible to know if things were accomplished because of, or in spite of, one particular player. So, for instance, even though the entire world hates the US - I could probably find a million cites for that on SDMB alone - somehow Germany and France have elected governments that are significantly more pro-US than their predecessors. And democracy keeps growing throughout the world. Did Condi do that? I don’t know. Who do you give credit to? ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/54 "2008-03-29T02:20:35Z")
[QUOTE=Hamlet] Anyone? [/QUOTE] She’s managed to come across as the least incompetent person in the Bush administration. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/55 "2008-03-29T02:20:37Z")
> [@](#): > > No, for the millionth time, we conservatives are not racists. If you read the conservative blogs you will read nothing but praise for democracy in India and the benefits of outsourcing to India. It is the leftists who are the nativists and protectionists. Certainly not all conservatives are racist. But let’s not kid ourselves - some conversatives are indeed racist. And the majority of racists are conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/56 "2008-03-29T02:24:27Z")
> [@](#): > > She’s managed to come across as the least incompetent person in the Bush administration. Really? She’s been involved with national security and foreign policy - two of the leading areas where the Bush administration has failed. I’d say many people would put here among the top five members of the Bush administration in terms of incompetence. ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/57 "2008-03-29T02:39:39Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Really? She’s been involved with national security and foreign policy - two of the leading areas where the Bush administration has failed. I’d say many people would put here among the top five members of the Bush administration in terms of incompetence. [/QUOTE] I didn’t say she _was_ the least incompetent, I said she has the perception of being the least incompetent. You can find dozens of mainstream media editorials questioning the intelligence or capabilities of every single other high profile member of the Bush administration. Rumsfeld, Gonzalez, Cheney, Bush himself… but criticism of Rice has been curiously low key by comparison. Perhaps following Colin “Of course there a WMDs in Iraq” Powell gives her an unfair advantage. Of course, she’s also never been asked to do anything particularly controversial. There also hasn’t been a big expectation of success by anyone. The job of selling the Bush foreign policy to other countries has to have the same success potential as selling turds. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/58 "2008-03-29T05:37:37Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] Certainly not all conservatives are racist. But let’s not kid ourselves - some conversatives are indeed racist. And the majority of racists are conservative. [/QUOTE] Really? Do we get to count all the left-wing anti-semites? And if you haven’t noticed, the Democratically party is splitting along racial lines. There’s all kinds of talk of the Democrats in the big states being uncomfortable about his race - blue collar workers, primarily. I keep hearing how Republicans would never elect a black leader. And then I look at the huge popularity Colin Powell had among Republicans. Everyone assumed that the nomination would be his in a walk if he ran against Bush in 2000. Condi Rice has one of the highest favorable ratings of any Republican, and the movements to draft her for President and Vice President are coming from the right. Bobby Jindal is a rising star. A Republican named the first black justice to the Supreme Court. Several Republican women have run for president. And of course, the current President appointed the first black female to be Secretary of State. Republicans would LOVE to find a good, charismatic conservative black person who could go toe-to-toe with Obama. Someone with his charisma, but more economically conservative. They’d love to find a Margaret Thatcher. I think your view of the Republican party is about 30 years out of date. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/59 "2008-03-29T05:47:01Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] make Rumsfeld his VP. [/QUOTE] Did anyone else just feel a chill? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852/60 "2008-03-29T15:23:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Really? Do we get to count all the left-wing anti-semites? And if you haven’t noticed, the Democratically party is splitting along racial lines. There’s all kinds of talk of the Democrats in the big states being uncomfortable about his race - blue collar workers, primarily. > > I keep hearing how Republicans would never elect a black leader. And then I look at the huge popularity Colin Powell had among Republicans. Everyone assumed that the nomination would be his in a walk if he ran against Bush in 2000. Condi Rice has one of the highest favorable ratings of any Republican, and the movements to draft her for President and Vice President are coming from the right. Bobby Jindal is a rising star. A Republican named the first black justice to the Supreme Court. Several Republican women have run for president. And of course, the current President appointed the first black female to be Secretary of State. > > Republicans would LOVE to find a good, charismatic conservative black person who could go toe-to-toe with Obama. Someone with his charisma, but more economically conservative. They’d love to find a Margaret Thatcher. > > I think your view of the Republican party is about 30 years out of date. So many problems here. For one thing, I never said anything about the Republican party - I was talking about conservatives. The two are not synonymous. Second, I explicitly said I was not talking about conservatives as a group. Most conservatives are not racist or at least are no more racist than average. But I stand by my previous statement - the people who are racist in this country are far more likely to by conservatives than liberals. Third, we’re back to the issue of tokenism. Nobody’s disputing there are some black conservatives. But they are very few and far between. Conservatives showcase them in an effort to divert attention from the fact that the majority of black people in this country are not conservatives. Fourth, equating being anti-Israel with being anti-semitic is a smokescreen. Would you say that everyone who is pro-Israel is by default anti-Muslim? This is an issue of politics not religious tolerance. Fifth, while it doesn’t really have a lot to do with this topic, I will repeat what I’ve said in the past. For all his faults, I don’t believe George Bush harbors any racial prejudices. He’s shown that he personally doesn’t care about a person’s race. Sixth (and finally), here’s an interesting observation. I was talking about black people. Your post talks about blacks and women and anti-semitism and Bobby Jindal. Magellon, in a previous response to a post I made about black people, gave a list that included black people and women and hispanics and Muslims and Asians. Both of you therefore seemed to have divided people into two groups; white Christian men and “minorities” which apparently is everyone who isn’t a white Christian man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/condi-rice-for-vp/442852.md?page=4)