Talk Elections

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050311-115948-2015r.htm

This interview might have just put her over the top for me... Her views on abortion and my own are almost identical.

Run, Condi, run! ::)

She's not going anywhere.

She wouldn't win any primaries, I'll tell you that.

She has never held elected office, no one would care if she was not a black woman, and she could never win the primary anyway. She's going nowhere.

Well, sounds like she is running to me.

The last president to have never held elected office previously and actually the last candidate who got anywhere was Eisenhower.

Condi is not remotely on the level of Eisenhower.

But she's a black woman.  If you don't vote for her, you're racist and sexist.

LOL, that's true. A while ago, some bastard called me a racist for not supporting Condi. Very stupid.

It's sad, but the press really can't bear to ever criticize a black Republican.

Actually, the press isn't supposed to criticize anyone.

So what? The Prohibition party will nominate someone too.

Um, huh?

My point is that someone's announced candidacy doesn't have to mean anything.

You're smoking some really good s**t.  Black Republicans are vilified in the press because they don't have the view that a black person is "supposed" to have.  I have the highest respect for Condi and other black Republicans who are able to think for themselves and take the abuse they take for exercising this fundamental right.

I think Condi is just playing a cat and mouse game right now.  I love the woman and would vote for her in a minute.  But she's never held elective office before, which is a big barrier.

I think she probably feels that all the presidential speculation gives her power and enhances interest in what she is doing, so why shut it down prematurely?  I really don't think she'll run though.  But I'd love to see her run and win.  She sure beats the Hildebeast in my opinion.

I guess you have the highest respect for white Democrats too?

True, but in the past, it was very common for Secretaries of State to become President.

yeah, in the past. Not to mention she's only been Sec of State for 2 months, therefore she has no sort of record at all and her record could easily end up terrible.

She's going nowhere.

You're just scared out of your mind and in denial :P

She could never win any GOP primaries - she's black and according to this article Pro Choice!

She isn't pro-choice, she has 'moderate' views, i.e. for parental notification and banning partial-birth abortion... the gist I got is that she hasn't totally made up her mind on the rest of the stuff.

Rest assured, if she sought the nomination, she'd gradually gravitate to being more and more anti-abortion.

Sounds reasonable, but she's still black - that's not going to fly in a GOP primary.

I agree with you there.  Look at Alan Keyes.  Republicans only like him when his opponent(s) are black.

I guess you have the highest respect for white Democrats too?

What's that got to do with anything?

The fact is, a white person can hold whatever opinion he/she wants without being vilified for it.  No, I don't like the Democrats, but I don't question a person's ethnic identity for being a Democrats.

Blacks have the burden of being told they're "oreos" or whatever stupid word people come up with if they don't toe the politically correct Democratic party line.

Colin Powell was called a "house slave" and Condi has been called worse.  Just because they're black, they're not allowed to think for themselves?

People who really believed in equality of the races would not criticize blacks for thinking for themselves.  Most people who say they want to help blacks simply want to control them, and their votes.

Actually Keyes did pretty well in the 2000 Primary, considering he's fairly crazy and not even remotely close to being qualified for high political office. And his opponents were all white.

But I digress. Rice has no business being considered a legit Presidential option for Republicans... she's never been elected to anything and has just zero domestic policy experience.

I hate it when people criticize minorities for being Republicans ("you're a slave!") or Democrats ("you're just following all the other minorities and can't think you yourself!"). It's their right to hold political opinions without getting that crap. It's irrelevant. I can't believe people still lurk on that.

The problem with Condi is that she is five things:

1. Not very conservative.
2. A woman.
3. Black.
4. Inexperienced.
5. Not really a leader.

Some may object to the second and third items, or the fourth for the matter, but polls do show that a big chunk of Republicans simply would refuse to vote for a woman (many Democrats do, too, but not as many as Republicans).

While #3 is unfortunate, I'd wager there are maybe 5% of people who would be a lot less likely to vote for a black person. That can mean everything in a close election.

As for #5, I respect Rice in many ways, but I do not think she is a leader as much as a "team player" kind of person. She does not have the presence of a leader, nor the charisma to become one.

Although I am not all that fond of her, I wish she was a viable GOP candidate because I want to see more moderates like her get nominations. But, for the above reasons, she is not, and would not be great in the general, either.

Dr. Rice is brilliantly intelligent and clealy knows what she is talking about: She's a technocrat, and one of the best around.

As much as I dislike this fact, its true: Technocrats don't get to be President.

I think you're probably right.  Though her performance in Europe showed that she could be formidable politically.  But there's still the lack of any domestic policy experience.

If Hillary's the Democratic nominee, and Rice is (unlikely) the Republican nominee, conservatives who don't want to vote for a woman, or a black for that matter, will have to get over that real fast.  I think your typical racist redneck would take Condi Rice over Hillary.  If she ran against a southern white male, that's when her being a black woman could be a disadvantage.

But I think a woman running as a Republican, rather than a Democratic, has a built-in advantage because almost all the people who would vote for a woman simply because she's a woman come from the Democratic side.  And those on the Republican side who have the greatest reservations about voting for women tend to be the ones who hate the Democrats the most, so they may just vote for her anyway.

Ditto with a black candidate.  A certain percentage of blacks would vote for a black candidate of either party, especially for president.  That cuts into a vote that the Democrats desperately need.  And once again, the Republicans most reluctant to vote for a black candidate are the furthest from swing voters, and could overcome their objections, especially if the Democratic opponent is Hillary.

Having said all that, I don't think Rice will run.  I wish she had more political and domestic policy experience, because I think it would be a wonderful thing for the country to have a moderate-conservative black woman of her background.  It would sure beat having a wretched feminazi like Hillary.

I'll bet that the next black Senator will be a Republican.  Look for Lt Gov Steele to run for Senate in MD, and win. 

I don't know where opebo gets his info, but this is one white Southerner who has no problem voting for a black candidate to any offce whatsoever--provided he/she is conservative.

I don't see black Democrat candidates winning Presidential primaries either, not since 1988 at least.  You guys had 2 black candidates in '04 and you avoided them in droves.  Does that make all Democrats racists?

Obama will easily win the primary when his time comes.
Mosely Braun and Al Sharpton were toast because everyone knew they'd lose the general election.

Braun was a former Senator from the very same state as Obama.  Why was she regarded as a non-candidate?  Why would she lose the General if all good Democrats were to vote for her?  Are you saying that Democrats would vote against Braun in a General election because she is black?

Because she had only been in one term, lost her reelection and was scandal plagued.

Steele will not be senator because:

1-He wants to run for governor in 2010
2-He would lose to any competant Democratic candidate if he did run

If an unborn is a human life, then Condi missed the point about abortion.  No one who believes that life starts in the womb could dare argue "I don't want the government forcing its views" or "I'm a libertarian on this issue."

If an unborn is NOT a human life, then obviously there is nothing immoral about abortion.  In this case, there is no need to invoke the "I'm a libertarian" excuse or to describe abortion as an "extremely difficult moral issue" which she approaches as "a deeply religious person."

Either it is or is not a human life.  If it is a life, then obviously that life is worth government intervention to protect.  If it is not a life, then "morals" or "deep religion" have nothing to do with it.

Her arguments are a red herring, and she has lost my vote.