I am as pleased as anyone with Condoleezza Rices initial performance as Secretary of State. Shes a smart, articulate, passionate defender of America and George W. Bushs foreign policy vision. But all the excited talk about Condi for President is wildly premature, and even dangerous to the conservative cause.
writes Steven M. Warshawsky on The American Thinker, February 15. Mr. Warshawsky goes on to list some pretty predictable problems with Condoleezza Rices White House credentials:
No political base
No chief executive experience
No domestic policy experience
etc.
I am not yet on board the Condi 08 bandwagon, but I have a reservation secured with a 10% deposit refundable until 30 days before the New Hampshire Primary.
In his Thinker piece, I believe Warshawsky, and others whove read him, make a critical political misjudgment in dissing the draft Condi movement.
Since the election of 2004, that watershed, do or die for Democrats event, the mainstream media have been pre-occupied with handicapping the 2008 Democrat field. In all of this, Hillary Clinton received more free publicity than Paris Hiltonassuming you consider public felatio free publicity. Meanwhile, the negative drum beat of Iraqi Mess and quagmire and gay male prostitutes in the debriefing room seem the only press Republicans get.
An early movement to draft Condi will take some of the political focus off of the Dems and put it on the GOP. At some point, the most jaded, cynical, hate-filled reporter with an Affirmative Action degree from Grade Inflation Universitys school of Oppressed Minority Journalism and Rhyming Dictionary will recognize the oddity of this headline:
Hard Right Republicans For African-American Woman President #
If only Strom Thurmond were around to place her name into nomination at the 2008 convention, the circle would be complete.
While Condi Rice may not be the best answer for the GOP in 2008, she seems to be the only one. John McCain? Give me a break. His first order of business would be to assassinate every political enemy on his right, and that list is very long. Dick Cheney isnt running and couldnt win. Newt Gingrich? Sorry. Deathbed divorce decrees are incompatible with White House aspirations. Pat Buchanan? What? You tell me who else.
Sure, Id love to see William F. Buckley in the Oval Office. Even Jack Kemp, so long as Buchanans his Naturalization and Immigration chief. But theyre not electable, and theyve proven it. As Matt May contends in the very same Thinker the following day:
Among Mr. Warshawskys list of potential candidates, all have a great number of flaws. Sen. McCain is a camera-hog with exactly no executive experience; Rudy Giuliani was a great mayor and a hero of 9/11, but where is his base bloc? Gov. Bush would be a great nominee, but time and history are not on his side right now. He is for down the line, and the media would no doubt argue that only Kennedys and Clintons are allowed dynasties. Ken Blackwell is one to watch but, as stated before, his lack of foreign policy experience is a more glaring flaw than Sec. Rices lack of domestic experience. None of these people are as strong a candidate as Sec. Rice.
For now, Ill keep fanning the Condi Rice flames. Unless something wonderful steps up soon, Ill commit to that reservation well before the 30 day limit.
See President Aristotle for more.
Linked by Blogs for Condi
Michelle Malkin says it all: Condi is a Doll