illumined horizon

I've never understood the rumblings about Condoleeza Rice as a presidential candidate. Presumably with all the speculation about Hillary Clinton running, the Republicans would want to at least consider a woman as her opponent (presumably they could compete for the female vote better this way, and with a female African-American they could compete among two of Hillary's supposed best constituencies). Perhaps, this is all the rumblings are about, but of course the fact that Condoleeza is strangely popular among independents and some Dems (when and where has she disagreed with Bush?), probably has something to do with it as well. Ultimately, although there have been some number of Secretaries of State that have become President in the history of the country (I can't recall who the last one was); it would seem in today's political climate even a party chair, or congressperson would have a better time running for the top job, than a member of the president's cabinet.

What political skills do the jobs of National Security Advisor and Secretary of State give to a potential candidate? Probably a lot of savvy with the media and image control, but little with the nitty gritty of campaigning, the holy grail of the skill set for any would-be president. Therefore, as long as Condoleeza demurely (have we ever had a demure president?) turns down requests and inquisitions that she run for commander-in-chief, I'll take the rumblings for her to take on this challenge, as the idle chatter of the busy bodies of the political world; and not the cogent analysis of political handicapping sophisticates.