Bill Sammon has a feature on Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in today’s Washington Times indicating that she “pointedly declined to rule out running for president in 2008.”
She seemed bemused by speculation that a Rice candidacy could set up an unprecedented all-woman matchup with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Democrat, who is widely expected to seek the presidency.
“I never wanted to run for anything — I don’t think I even ran for class anything when I was in school,” she said. “I’m going to try to be a really good secretary of state; I’m going to work really hard at it. “I have enormous respect for people who do run for office. It’s really hard for me to imagine myself in that role.” She was then pressed on whether she would rule out a White House bid by reprising Gen. William T. Sherman’s 1884 declaration: “If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve.” “Well, that’s not fair,” she protested with a chuckle. “The last thing I can — I really can’t imagine it.”
That hardly sounds like a veiled “Oh, yes, I’m certainly running” to me. It sounds much more like, “I’m almost certainly not running but I don’t want to be called a liar if I change my mind later.”
Other Republicans have questioned whether evangelical Christians, a crucial component of the Republican base, would turn out to vote for a pro-choice candidate. Miss Rice, a Presbyterian’s preacher’s daughter who twice in the interview spoke of her “deep religious faith,” suggested it’s a moot point. “I’m not trying to be elected.”
Although, it should be clear, she hasn’t pointedly ruled out trying to get elected.
The rest of the piece focuses on her mixed views on abortion as well as her love of nice clothes.
