Condi As Veep ? - Not A Chance

The media buzz lately has been that Condoleezza "Condi" Rice is on Willard Mitt Romney's short list of possible vice-presidential candidates. It seems that she gave a rousing speech for Romney a couple of weeks ago and that, coupled with the fact that Ann Romney said at least one woman was being considered, has some people thinking the former Bush administration Secretary of State is now the favorite in the GOP veep sweepstakes.

That would be a bold pick. She would be the first African-American and only the second woman ever picked to be on a Republican presidential ticket. But it isn't going to happen. Ms. Rice is tied far too closely to the failed presidency of George Bush -- a presidency that both Willard Mitt Romney (aka Wall Street Willie) and the Republican Party have been running away from as fast as they can. They know that the American public still blames Bush for the current recession and the loss of millions of jobs, and they don't want him (or any of his associates) anywhere near the Republican nominee.

Romney did appear at a fundraiser recently with Dick Cheney. That's because Cheney, while unpopular with the public, is still very popular with the corporate and Wall Street bigwigs (because he is one of them) -- and Romney needs the money those bigwigs can provide. But even then, the Romney campaign refused to allow the press to take any pictures of Cheney and Romney together (a picture the Democrats would be happy to make very public).

The sad fact is that Romney and the Republican Party are still pushing the same failed economic policies of George Bush, although they no longer call it "trickle-down economics" (because that phrase is far too closely tied to the Bush administration). Putting someone like Rice on the ticket would just be a constant reminder for voters that a vote for Romney is a return to the Bush administration's policies.

Condi Rice is a lot smarter and more capable than Sarah Palin, but choosing her as the veep candidate would be nearly as big a disaster for the GOP as Palin's choice was. The Republicans want to hide George Bush -- not put a reminder of him on the campaign trail.