Rice Shoots Down VP Rumors
ABC Poltical Radar:
ABC News Kirit Radia Reports: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice poured cold water on rumors that she was angling for the vice presidential spot on presumptive Republican nominee John McCain’s White House bid.
“I do not want to be, don’t intend to be, won’t be on his ticket,” she told the Associated Press in an interview in Alabama today where she received an honorary degree from Air University at Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base.
“It’s time for me to do something else,” she added, saying she would return to Stanford University after the Bush administration leaves office next January.
Rice praised Sen. McCain, of Arizonia, as “an amazing man” with “great intellect” but said the last time she spoke with him was last month after his passport file had been breached.
Speculation that Rice was lobbying for the VP job swirled after Republican strategist Dan Senor said on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos that “Condi Rice has been actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning for this.”
It was later revealed that Rice delivered a speech to an influential conservative group and separately addressed other issues such as race that are typically beyond her foreign policy portfolio as Secretary of State. Her spokesman consistently denied she would do anything other than return to teaching.
Rice did, however, leave the door open to eventually returning to public life. In the past Rice’s name has been floated as a possible candidate for political positions in California.
“We’ll see in a few year’s what I do. But I — this is not the time for me,” she told the AP.
ehhh, I’m mixed about this.
On one hand I would love to see Obama’s race card become worthless overnight and I do have a ton of respect for her…
But on the other it just makes McCain look like “Lil Bush” instead of a singularly unique candidate.
April 14th, 2008 at 7:35 pmOne name on my list for VP and that’s J C Watts. Got to love a conservative black man with the name Julius Caesar Watts.
April 15th, 2008 at 1:05 pm