The Case for Condi
Could America elect it’s first woman president and its first African-American president in one quick shot?
Within three years we will have the answer to that question, but the answer at this point of the game is yes.
There is no doubt that Condoleeza Rice is a strinking figure, and an attractive one for a Republican party that wants to retain power while driving the last nails into the coffin of the Democratic Party. What better way than putting forward Ms. Rice - an African-American with Civil Rights credentials (born in a segregated South to parents of limited means) who rose above her station through hard work and sound judgement to occupy some of the highest offices in the land. She represents the libertarian, self-made ideal that runs through the Republican Party and has been strained by the dynastic Bush legacy of the past generation. The talk of Jeb in ‘08 is enough to make many under the “big tent” call their therapists to boost their Zoloft dosages in horror at the notion. Two Bushes are enough - even for those of us who voted for the last one.
She has experience at foreign policy. But does she have substance at domestic affairs?
This is where the dream of President Rice conflicts with reality - since her only experience at governing was as Provost at Stanford University, which isn’t exactly in the “requirements section” of the job description of President.
Condi has style. There is a JFK-like quality about her, a bigger-than-life persona that has grown with her tenure in the Bush Administration. Style can go very far; after all, Reagan had it in spades (although he also had experience running the biggest state of the Union too). She has a no-nonsense approach that may have come about by hanging around with Donald Rumsfeld, but she also is an intellectual - a thinker or policy-wonk like Clinton.
Social Security trouble may not be her bag, but does anyone seriously doubt she can’t grasp the issue? Compare domestic policies with waging war in the Middle East or dealing with Europe, and her inexperience in domestic issues seems less of a problem. Her biggest difficulty would be dealing with the egos in Congress - and that’s where a good arm-twister and horse-trader aka “Chief of Staff” comes into play. With a Rove-clone behind her, there is nothing that would prevent her from doing an adequate job as president.
Foreign policy-wise she would have more experience than any other president since Bush I or possibly even Nixon.
As Iraq stabilizes, the wisdom of the invasion will boost Rice’s stature at home and abroad. Plus, symbolism goes a long way in foreign policy and what better symbol could America have as its face to the world than Condi Rice? Just imagine her meeting with Prince Abdallah in Saudi Arabia - a place where she couldn’t drive because she’s a woman and couldn’t worship because she’s a Christian.
Another important factor in choosing Condi as the Republican Candidate in 2008 would be to force the Democrats to run Hillary against her. Race and sex matters to the Democratic Party which has been fixated on both issues for the last 140 years - and there is no way that they would run a white guy against Condi. That would leave either a black man or a white woman, and of the two the Dems would believe America is more open to a female president than it is to an African-American male one.
There are only three strong women in the Democratic Party today: Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary. Of the 3, they would choose Hillary as the most electable as they chose Kerry against the more popular Dean in Feb 2004.
And here’s the rub: Hillary energizes the Republican Base in a way that no other Democrat does.
So Condi presents a win-win-win for the Republicans: An intellectual African-American woman to snag the progressives, a Christian - to keep the Religious Right happy, and the anti-Hillary vote for those who can’t say Hillary’s name without spitting it.
I believe that I have presented a valid and rational case for selecting Condoleeza Rice as Republican Party candidate in 2008.
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Couldn’t agree more, she’s a star in the best meaning of the word. And after Bush taking over what should be FDR type ‘progressive’ foreign police, what better way to rub the Dems noses in the dirt than by electing a black woman, their two favourite PC causes? No wonder they’re becoming completely unhinged.
I had a reply to a post I did on Condi casting some doubt on the probability of her being drafted as follows:
“As much as I love the idea of Condi as President I have some serious reservations about her chances of beating Hillary. Really, it all comes down to character.
Firstly, she’s unmarried. This would be a great opening for the Dems to spread a whisper campaign like they did with the current RNC Chairman.
Secondly, being unmarried means she can’t sell herself as a family woman. No kids, that would be a sticking point with voters who often wanna be able to sympathize with the candidates. Hillary is a married mom.
Thirdly, because Hillary got screwed around by Bill, she would get tons of sympathy from wronged women. And also she could sell the whole forgiving Bill schtick to Christian voters who dig that idea. In other words she comes off as morally superior.
Honestly, the ‘Pubs should field someone with more substance and not someone who they think will instantly steal the Dems two main cores simply based on the fact that she is black and a woman. Hillary can be beat, and Condi can most likely outfox her on the issues, but she is gonna have to, almost literally, walk on water as Secretary of State to really have voters fall in love with her.”
Guess we’ll see how it all pans out.
Comment by Ligneus — 2/27/2005 @ 11:04 am
Rice is, by virtue of 9/11 alone, the most incompetent NSA in memory. It was preventable.
Neither she nor Hillary will come in sniffing distance of the noms.
All that needs be done is a commercial with her many WMDs references.
There’s this article I got forwarded that linkls to several places where her lies are quoted. Worth a read:
http://cosmoetica.com/B194-DES136.htm
Iraq, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, And The Couch Potato’s Burden:
A Muscular Centrist Attack On The Pro-War Position
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