Mitt Romney VP Rumors: Condi Rice Might Still Get the Nod
Though Mitt Romney’s running-mate in the 2012 election is still a mystery, some commentators think he might pull a McCain ’08 and pick a woman as his VP. If he does, reports suggest it ain’t going to be Sarah Palin this time around – Romney is eyeballing Condoleezza Rice.
Most political analysts are saying that Romney is most likely to pick someone of the Ryan-Rubio-Portman-Pawlenty persuasion to be his running mate, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is reportedly being vetted for a potential nod, but a little tease from Mitt’s wife Ann that a woman was under consideration prompted a collective furrowed-brow from pundits with Bill Kristol thinking former secretary of state Condi Rice.
“Who’s the woman?” Kristol writes in an op-ed for The Weekly Standard. “It could be Kelly Ayotte or New Mexico governor Susana Martinez. But as much as I like both of them, I suspect Mitt Romney will see them as risky picks, lacking sufficient high-level government experience to unequivocally answer the question of whether they’d be qualified to take over,” Asserting confidently, “No, the woman Ann Romney likely has in mind is Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state.”
Rice would add a few interesting boosts to Mitt Romney’s campaign. Juan Williams opined that Rice would be a “political game changer for the 2012 race,” following early rumors of a VP nod. “She would be the first African-American woman to be on a major party’s presidential ticket, at a time when the GOP is losing ground with minority and female voters,” he wrote in an op-ed for Fox. Conservatives love her too, with Red State stressing “Condi is the right person for the number two place on the ticket.”
“Rice is qualified,” continues Kristol, “would be a poised (if novice) candidate, and would complement Romney in terms of area of expertise, gender (obviously!), and life experience. Rice offers an unusual combination of being at once a reassuring pick (she served at the highest levels of the federal government for eight years) and an exciting one.”
Kristol was also careful to mention he’s not campaigning for Rice: “I’m not advocating the selection of Rice. I’m just reading the tea leaves, and the biggest tea leaf out there right now is Ann Romney’s comment. It makes sense to take Ann Romney seriously. Cherchez la femme!”
Here’s a video of Condoleezza Rice being interviewed by Fox’s Greta Van Susteren. Do you think she has the woman-stones to make a good VP for Romney? Would her selection change the campaign or would it fall flat like McCain’s Palin-pick back in 2008? Sound off below!
[iframe src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/ydjbvCz5ufE” width=”560? height=”315?]
