Rice as McCain’s VP?

David B. writes:

I think McCain will put Condoleezza Rice on the ticket as his running mate. Rice would be a “threefer.” This would be a black, a woman, and a supporter of the war policy all in one.

LA replies:

I can’t imagine it. She has fouled up so badly she is no longer a respected person. The bloom is long off the rose. Even her former admirers have criticized her for her fecklessness and narcissism.

However, given that a profoundly flawed and discredited person like McCain has ended up as the likely presidential nominee, why couldn’t a profoundly flawed and discredited person like Rice end up as the vice presidential nominee? Further, given the extraordinary situation McCain is facing, with either a black opponent or a female opponent, I guess you’re right that there is a logic to having Rice as his running mate and that he would at least think about it.

Oy, if McCain is elected and kicks the bucket we would end up with Bush’s twin brain as president.

Also, another reader had suggested we get into a discussion of how various possible VP candidates would affect our vote. I said to him that the current situation is already like three-dimensional chess and I haven’t figured it it out yet, let alone being ready to add a fourth dimension by introducing possible VP’s into the calculation. But as some point we will do that.

However, since we’ve already introduced the idea of Rice, I hearby announce that if Rice is McCain’s running mate, the Democratic candidates would have to be Lenin and Hitler in order for me to vote Republican. If the country is to have any chance of moving forward to something positive again, we must at all costs first free it from the deadly grip of the Bushites and neocons and their insane ideology.

- end of initial entry -

Charles G. writes:

And if Rice does turn out to be his choice, does this mark another watershed in American political life in which there has to be at least one black person on one of the presidential tickets?

Derek C. writes:

There’s no way McCain will be picking anyone closely associated with Bush as his VP choice. If he picked Rice, he might as well stay home and plan for the next legislative session. People see Rice and they’re going to see Bush’s disastrous foreign policy—which of course differs from McCain’s only in its being less bombastic.

If McCain is thinking identity politics, he’ll probably try to pick a Hispanic. If Obama is running, that could give him the Hispanic vote, since they aren’t exactly wild about black candidates. The only problem is that, aside from Mel Martinez, there isn’t much to choose from, and Martinez is too pro-amnesty. One of the former congressmen, like Tony Bonilla, from Texas might do.

I think, in the end, McCain will pick someone like Fred Thompson to anchor his right flank. Thompson will help him reassure distrustful conservatives and will not cause much controversy or scandal. He can also handle himself well in a debate.

James P. writes:

McCain is in a no-win situation to some extent, because if he doesn’t nominate a black VP, he will be seen as someone who “doesn’t get it and doesn’t care enough to reach out to the black community,” but if he does, he will be seen as someone who is shamelessly pandering to blacks or who is desperately trying to prove the GOP is not racist.

More importantly, Rice as his VP would be a disastrous move politically. His only hope is to distance himself from the Bush administration as best he can. If McCain ran with Rice, it would make the election into a referendum on eight years of Bush. Unfortunately for him, it unavoidably is such a referendum to some extent. However, running with Rice would openly proclaim that McCain’s first term would be Dubya’s third term—“hey, if you liked the last eight years, and want four more of it, vote McCain-Rice!”—and this would lead to an Obama landslide win. Furthermore, McCain simply does not need Rice’s “national security credentials.” He is plenty strong on that front already, especially compared to Obama.

Generally speaking, any black who would agree to run with him, and who would be acceptable to the GOP—i.e. a black conservative—would not be regarded as “authentically black” and would not get many black votes. One possible exception is Colin Powell, but since Powell is already advising the Obama campaign, this seems unlikely.

The black vote is a lost cause for the GOP. The Bush administration bent over backwards pandering to blacks, but got zero credit for it. Two black Secretaries of State, and the blacks hate Republicans more than ever!

LA replies:

But hasn’t it been established that that real reason for the pandering to blacks is not to win blacks, but to assure the white soccer moms that the GOP isn’t bigoted?

David B. writes:

On second thought, McCain will probably not select Rice. She is not popular and would not help him. However, the sheer unrelenting stupidity of Republicans cannot be discounted. Early indications are that McCain may not roll over for Obama as we earlier speculated. In the modern era, Republicans win Presidential elections by “going right,” rather than being “me too.” Once elected, they go back to trying to appease liberals.

I now think McCain will (or be urged by his advisers to) pick a white woman as his running mate. There would be some logic to it.

Ken H. writes:

At the risk of not being thought a serious person, let me suggest that Obama should take his wife as his Evita running mate. This will short-circuit the acrimony at convention time, be a counter to Rice, avoid the eight year wait that Hillary had to endure, and simplify the dynastic continuation in eight years.

There is no downside, except for the totalitarian socialism, of course. There is that.

(Obama may very well represent your “Lenin and Hitler” reason to vote McCain. It seems so to me.)

Tim W. writes:

The problem with Condi Rice as VP goes beyond her incompetence and her association with failed policies. The fact that she is being pushed so hard on mainstream conservative message boards demonstrates what happens when multiculturalism and diversity become the societal religion. The left becomes almost totally monolithic in its thinking, with the only factors separating left-wing candidates being race, gender, sexual “orientation,” age, educational background, and other such characteristics. The right plays catch-up on these things, trying desperately to become like the left by finding candidates with appeal based on race, gender, etc. while purging people who object in hopes of building an equally monolithic party in terms of ideas.

This is why Hillary and Obama easily rose to the top among the Democrats, and it’s why names such as Rice, J.C. Watts, Michael Steele, Mel Martinez, and Kay Bailey Hutchison are being pushed as VP nominees by so many Republicans. The Dems will have a minority or a woman so we have to have one, too.

PS: On the issue of Hillary vs. Obama, I share the attitude that we should support seeing her go down now. Obama would be bad as president but he lacks the support system and intellectual deviousness to do as much damage in office. So let Hillary go down now. Never miss an opportunity to drive a stake through a vampire’s heart!

LA replies:

My gosh, are the L-dotters and so on still pushing Rice?

Steven Warshawsky writes:

The idea, pushed most prominently by Dick Morris, that “only” a black woman candidate, i.e., Condi Rice, could keep the White House out of Hillary’s hands was preposterous. So is the idea that Republicans now need a black and/or female VP to keep the White House out of Obama’s hands. Since when did women and blacks become the strongest presidential/VP candidates? There is no evidence to support this view. Indeed, I predict that McCain will win in November, precisely because we are not—yet—the thoroughly feminized, multicultural society that this view presupposes. Because of his age and medical history, McCain needs to choose someone as VP who will be seen as sufficiently “presidential” to be able to step into the job if McCain falls seriously ill or dies in office. Someone from an important battleground state also would be ideal. Selecting a woman or an under-qualified black would be a huge mistake. Yes, a strong, conservative minority male as VP might be helpful, but I am not sure who that candidate would be. This election will be won by whichever candidate attracts the most votes from conservative and independent white voters. As flawed a candidate as John McCain is, I believe that this is his election to lose.

LA replies:

Leaving aside my own feelings and views in the matter, what a choice for the average American voter! Between this young, winning, eloquent but totally inexperienced and disturbingly leftist “star” Obama, and the aged, broken-down mediocrity McCain.

Joseph C. writes:

I am bemused by suggestions about potential running mates, based on age, gender, covering flanks, mollifying soccer moms, etc. Even if one gives weight to these reasons, what about the big question:

“If the president dies, could this person assume the duties of the office on a moment’s notice?”

If the answer to that question is no, or even a qualified yes, then the perosn merits zero consideration, regardless of what else he or she brings to the table.

Richard B. writes:

Make no mistake about it, this will be a black vs white election.

There is nothing to be gained by mixing it up with a black VP selection for the GOP ticket. McCain should go for a white Christian southerner.

Huckabee can help.

Stewart W. writes:

Just pause to step back and look at the absurdity of the fact that this discussion is being entertained at VFR, and by the conservative commentariat in general. This year’s presidential race has devolved to the point that it begins to resemble a Blake Edwards comedy, in which people can actually discuss the merits of someone like Rice as a VP, and still maintain a strait face! Now, if only Sir Charles Litton were running…

Tim W. writes:

You wrote: “My gosh, are the L-dotters and so on still pushing Rice?”

I’m not sure about the L-dotters but a lot of Freepers are Of course, many are also opposing her. But there have been a lot of posts at FR promoting either Rice or some other race or gender candidate for VP, on the premise that the GOP needs to match the Democrats in the diversity contest.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 22, 2008 01:59 AM | Send