I posted something about this weeks ago. Well, it's been picking up some steam on the Sunday shows and today--who knows if it'll happen.

McCain Rice Ticket? (41 minutes ago)

Quote :

"It would perhaps seem logical on the surface to some. With Democrats on the verge of making history with either an African American or a female nominee, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice would certainly compliment the McCain candidacy. BUT! Senior McCain insiders say she has not until this point been under any serious consideration. That is not to say that she might not be soon. It was reported recently that Rice attended 'The Wednesday Meeting' recently. Lots of people go, its pretty much open to all. It's a regular weekly meeting held at conservative activist Grover Nordquist's L Street offices in D.C. Nordquist is head of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) but he dabbles in all sorts of conservative politics. Rice's appearance at a recent meeting according to several sources was NOT about auditioning for McCain's Veep. BUT she sure is an intriguing prospect. Would she make it hard for McCain to fight the democratic charges that he's running for a third Bush term?"

http://cameron.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/07/mccain-rice-ticket/

Rice Eyeing Ticket? That's News to McCain (1 hour ago)

Quote :

"Nonetheless, Mr. McCain took a few moments to compliment Ms. Rice. 'I think she's a great American, I think there's very little that I can say that isn't anything but the utmost praise for a great American citizen, who served as a role model to so many millions of people in this country and around the world,' Mr. McCain said, adding that 'her overall record is very, very meritorious.' Mr. McCain was responding to questions from reporters about comments made on the ABC program 'This Week With George Stephanopoulos' by Dan Senor, a former military spokesman for coalition forces in Baghdad. Mr. Senor said Ms. Rice spoke last week before an unusual forum for a secretary of state: a meeting of economic conservatives led by Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. 'Condi Rice has been actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning for this,' Mr. Senor said."

http://tinyurl.com/5bc4ww

RICE CAMPAIGNING FOR VEEP? (1 hour ago)

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/07/866030.aspx

4/7/2008 2:36:42 PM

every interview i have seen with her, she says she is not interested...but who knows

4/7/2008 4:15:10 PM

if mccain picked her, they would definitely win

4/7/2008 4:35:20 PM

If McCain picked her, I'd pray to God that McCain doesn't die in office.

Wouldn't it be a good idea if we could vote for President and VP separately?

[Edited on April 7, 2008 at 4:44 PM. Reason : /]

4/7/2008 4:41:00 PM

Admittedly, as I was skimming this thread, I had to go and search for "Rice Eyeing" on wikipedia.

As it turns out, "Rice Eying" isn't some obscure political maneuver that I didn't know about.

4/7/2008 4:45:35 PM

i think it would probably be interpreted (mostly rightly) as some cheap stunt to offset the black/female candidate on the dem side.

4/7/2008 4:48:47 PM

i agree with that point as well

4/7/2008 5:16:04 PM

yeah and it probably would work...i think i would probably even vote for that ticket just cause it would be great

4/7/2008 5:23:32 PM

In my humble opinion, I think McCain is better off trying to put some distance between himself and the current administration: close enough so the base doesn't bolt but far enough that he doesn't get tainted too badly by El Presidente. Selecting Rice as VP would go way too far toward the latter...

Unless he's trying to buy himself some "assassination insurance", selecting a VP so scary that no one would try to kill him fearing the alternative even more. Honestly, that's why I think there were no serious attempts at taking out our current President because the alternative, President Cheney, was far more terrifying.

4/7/2008 5:50:55 PM

I agree. No way someone from this current administration is on his ticket.

4/7/2008 5:58:34 PM

i'm pretty sure he'd get about the same percentage of the vote with or without condi honestly

4/7/2008 6:25:19 PM

Once again, all the people who were angry when McCain got the nomination wouldn't like this. He's going to need someone more conservative than he is. I'm thinking Romney will likely get the VP nod.

4/7/2008 6:32:07 PM

Quote :

"i think it would probably be interpreted (mostly rightly) as some cheap stunt to offset the black/female candidate on the dem side. "

agreed

not that it's bad in and of itself, just that it would be an obvious, cheap stunt



stranger things have happened in politics, but i think this would be completely retarded. McCain doesn't want anyone from the current administration, he doesn't gain anything by adding a foreign-policy specialist to the ticket, and she's not especially socially conservative (which is fine by me, generally, but it doesn't gain McCain anything). Terrible, terrible VP pick for McCain.

4/7/2008 7:05:18 PM

and all the racist republicans would stay home

4/7/2008 8:06:43 PM

i think that would be a drop in the bucket

4/7/2008 8:07:44 PM

i think hes picking huckabee

[Edited on April 7, 2008 at 8:08 PM. Reason : ^i dont, but i dont think it would keep them from voting repub]

4/7/2008 8:07:55 PM

1. He won't pick someone from the current admin, that's not smart w/ approval ratings what they have been.

2. No Huckabee, he adds nothing except a guy you'd like to have lunch with to the ticket.

3. It will be someone with a business background.

4/8/2008 12:29:33 AM

McCain's pick is def gonna be someone in Bush's family.

4/9/2008 12:37:35 AM

Quote :

"If McCain picked her, I'd pray to God that McCain doesn't die in office. Wouldn't it be a good idea if we could vote for President and VP separately?"

Flyin Ryan

Um. . .concerning the latter, we tried it that way already in this country.

[Edited on April 9, 2008 at 12:43 AM. Reason : .]

4/9/2008 12:43:10 AM

Rockefeller Apologizes for McCain Remark

Quote :

"WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller apologized for suggesting Republican Sen. John McCain doesn't care about people because he was a Navy fighter pilot who dropped bombs on Vietnam. Rockefeller supports fellow Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for president. He made the comments in an interview published Tuesday in The Charleston Gazette in his home state of West Virginia. 'McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they (the missiles) get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues,' Rockefeller said. He said he called McCain to apologize. 'I made an inaccurate and wrong analogy, and I have extended my sincere apology to him,' Rockefeller said in a statement. 'While we differ a great deal on policy issues, I profoundly respect and appreciate his dedication to our country, and I regret my very poor choice of words.' The McCain campaign called on Obama to condemn Rockefeller's words. 'Why does Senator Obama refuse to personally condemn this type of despicable attack?' spokesman Tucker Bounds asked. Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said Obama disagrees with Rockefeller. 'Senator Obama has a deep respect for Senator McCain's service to this country and doesn't agree with what Senator Rockefeller said,' Vietor said. McCain was shot down during the Vietnam War and spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jBs7gaxyvw0mdPnaZM5JVbGq_zgwD8VTU0BG3

4/9/2008 7:44:20 AM

AHA, why are people constantly asking Obama to condemn shit?

4/9/2008 7:50:59 AM

i dunno, maybe to get him to take a solid stance on ANYTHING...

4/9/2008 8:01:51 AM

this whole "obama won't take a solid stance on anything" storyline is getting soooo tired. he offers just as many details and policies as any other candidate.

4/9/2008 8:07:09 AM

Quote :

"Um. . .concerning the latter, we tried it that way already in this country."

No we didn't. We elected only for President and runner-up became Vice President.

Why not have two elections? For 2004 for example, there's a choice:

President: George W. Bush or John Kerry

and

Vice President: Dick Cheney or John Edwards

Shouldn't voters have the right to not pick #2 if they think he's an idiot? (the most obvious being I think people would've preferred Lloyd Bentsen to Dan Quayle in 1988 despite Bush's landslide win).

4/9/2008 8:20:46 AM

^ But the electors did vote for "#2"--and "#1." In any event, the point was that the country sometimes had a president and vice president with different ideologies and from different parties--and I'm not sure that was a better system.

I mean, you'd allow, say, a Republican president and a Democrat vice president, right? I think you're overlooking the often deleterious effect of modern partisanship.

4/9/2008 9:11:52 AM

I haven't put any thought behind this, but off the top of my head, do you think having seperate President / Vice President elections would benefit a third party? Perhaps people who aren't willing to "throw their vote away" on a Presidential candidate might be more willing to do it on a Veep?

4/9/2008 9:14:14 AM

it seems like it would tie the president to his desk. otherwise, congress could pass the bill that the president would veto when he's not around and the VP would sign it (maybe?)

4/9/2008 9:31:41 AM

Quote :

"I mean, you'd allow, say, a Republican president and a Democrat vice president, right? I think you're overlooking the often deleterious effect of modern partisanship."

But if that's what the voters want by how they wanted, shouldn't they get it?

Throughout our history it's been the norm to have the president and Congress controlled by different parties.

Besides, you're overestimating the VP position. VP only has two jobs that really matter: vote in the Senate when there's a tie, and take over the presidency if the elected president dies or resigns. That's it. How many Republicans that voted for George H.W. Bush in 1988 would've been comfortable with President Quayle? If it was less than 90%, Bentsen would've been Vice President.

[Edited on April 9, 2008 at 9:53 AM. Reason : /]

4/9/2008 9:49:18 AM

^^^ It might.

^ You forgot "attend state funerals."

Quote :

"AHA, why are people constantly asking Obama to condemn shit?"

BridgetSPK

Um. . .maybe because Obama committed to running a positive campaign devoid of personal attacks--and this was yet another personal attack by an Obama surrogate.

The campaign released this statement concerning an earlier "warmonger" remark about McCain by an Obama supporter during an introduction:

Quote :

"Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki says in a statement, 'John McCain is not a warmonger and should not be described as such. He's a supporter of a war that Senator Obama believes should have never been authorized and never been waged.'"

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/05/862795.aspx

In any event, Rockefeller condemned himself:

Quote :

". . .I profoundly respect and appreciate [McCain's] dedication to our country, and I regret my very poor choice of words."

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jBs7gaxyvw0mdPnaZM5JVbGq_zgwD8VTU0BG3



[Edited on April 9, 2008 at 9:54 AM. Reason : .]

4/9/2008 9:50:24 AM

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Quote :

"Condoleezza Rice has said she has no desire to be John McCain's running mate, but a new poll out Wednesday suggests that duo could beat the Democratic ticket in the bluest of states. In a new poll conducted by Marist College and WNBC, a McCain-Rice ticket would beat a ticket that includes both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in New York — a state that reliably votes for the Democratic candidate. (In 2004, John Kerry beat President Bush there by nearly 20 points. In 2000, the margin between Al Gore and Bush was an even higher 25 points.) But should McCain and Rice team up, the poll suggests the two Republicans would carry New York, defeating a Clinton-Obama ticket by 3 points (49-46 percent) and an Obama-Clinton ticket by 5 points (49-44 percent.) "

Besides the fact that Condaleeza is one of the most brilliant foreign policy minds in modern history, she was a child prodigy on piano, finished high school at 15, earned her BA at 19, earned her master's in 1 year at Notre Dame, and was the first female, first minority, and youngest Provost at Stanford. This is all before she became involved in politics.

I wish that she was running for president, maybe in 12 or 16.

4/9/2008 8:02:44 PM

^ I wholeheartedly agree.

4/10/2008 5:07:17 AM

Her track record in politics consists of a stint as National Security Advisor during 9/11 and the ensuing push for war with Iraq, and Secretary of State over the last 3 years during which our foreign policy has been pilloried at home and abroad.

No doubt she is a brilliant pianist, but I'm not too impressed by her service to the country so far.

4/10/2008 6:04:30 AM

^ Opinions vary.

4/10/2008 6:19:27 AM

it seemed like many of the accomplishments listed there are symbolic or completely irrelevant to being president. and tell me: what has she done that was positive in her time as either sec. of state or national security adviser?

4/10/2008 8:41:12 AM

^ Put up with Bush? Couldn't have been easy, am I right?

4/10/2008 8:43:45 AM

Condi would not be my optimal VP candidate for McCain but it would be punch in the face to the liberals running the democratic party who banked on using a woman or a black person to win the presidency.

People could vote for McCain and have a black AND woman VP!

4/10/2008 10:03:47 AM

Look, the race is going to be McCain vs. Obama

If he can't get a minority VP, then we're going to see a very very very racially charged race/election. Probably not a good thing.

4/10/2008 10:19:54 AM

i really disagree. i think IF republicans choose a woman or a black person (or both), it would be seen as a cheap late-game stunt.

4/10/2008 11:26:52 AM

rabble rabble only democrats can use race and gender to their advantage rabble rabble!

4/10/2008 11:41:45 AM

Quote :

"i really disagree. i think IF republicans choose a woman or a black person (or both), it would be seen as a cheap late-game stunt. "

Too bad that the only reason that you believe that Condoleezaz could be chosen is because of her race and not because of her qualifications and experience that far exceeds any of the Democratic presidential candidates. Looks like you are the racist here. Just sayin.

4/10/2008 12:18:10 PM

Quote :

"to the liberals running the democratic party who banked on using a woman or a black person to win the presidency. "

Banked on this? Both of these things hurt their chances.

And I agree with ^ too. It's racist to think that people instantly think Condi would be a choice simply because of her race. She's as qualified as anyone else McCain could pick.

4/10/2008 12:36:59 PM

The reason why McCain is soft on immigration? He wants more expendable soldiers.

4/10/2008 1:09:39 PM

Quote :

" Too bad that the only reason that you believe that Condoleezaz could be chosen is because of her race and not because of her qualifications and experience that far exceeds any of the Democratic presidential candidates. Looks like you are the racist here. Just sayin."

wait a second here. she doesn't have that much experience. she was the nsa during one of the worst security lapses in our country's history and secretary of state at a time when our bargaining power in the world has been severely diminished partly because of her ineptitude. but no tell me what positive she has done in gov't. i'm all ears.

[Edited on April 10, 2008 at 1:26 PM. Reason : .]

4/10/2008 1:21:52 PM

^ What did Cheney do before being VP? I'd say Condi is AT LEAST as qualified as Cheney was.

4/10/2008 1:24:32 PM

are you joking? (he was a congressman, secretary of defense, white house chief of staff, etc.)

and just to get the record straight. if she were a white man, she'd be seen as a liability at VP for the reasons i listed above. no question about it.

not to menion, she's never held an elected office.

[Edited on April 10, 2008 at 1:30 PM. Reason : ./]

4/10/2008 1:25:00 PM

Yeah, and despite all of Dr. Condoleezza Rice's accomplishments, Reverend Wrong--Obama's pal--still felt the need to viciously insult her by referring to her as "Condoskeeza":

Double-sourced for any doubters. Video:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4468664

Text:

Quote :

"Rice's success drew heated criticism in 2003 from Reverend Wright, who dubbed her 'Condoskeeza' in a sermon."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/28/barackobama.uselections20081

4/14/2008 6:39:22 AM