By Glenn Kessler
Condoleezza Rice wants it known: She is still not interested in being vice president.
Sean McCormack, her spokesman, today tried to dampen speculation that erupted Sunday after Dan Senor, a GOP political operative, claimed on ABC's "This Week" that Rice was "actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning" for the job. Peppered with questions at the regular State Department briefing, McCormack reiterated that Rice wants to return to Stanford University, where she is a tenured professor.
"I think what she is considering is focusing on her work as Secretary of State because -- you may have missed it -- but there's actually quite a bit to do," McCormack said. "There's quite a bit left to do here as secretary of State."
Rice, in a recent interview with The Washington Times, claimed no interest in being vice president after nearly eight years in Washington and a year as a campaign adviser to then Governor George W. Bush. She said it was time for "new blood."
Speculation has centered on Rice because as a prominent African American woman, she would help balance out a GOP ticket that otherwise might appear too bland next to the excitement generated by either the first major-party black or female candidate.
However, as Bush's national security adviser in the first term, she is closely identified with the Iraq war -- at a time when Sen. John McCain, a war supporter, is trying to distance himself from the administration's foreign policy approach.
Senor cited as one piece of evidence the fact that Rice recently spoke at a conservative salon hosted by GOP activist Grover Norquist. Political eyebrows were also raised when Rice posed for a feature last week in Fitness magazine on her workout regimen.
McCormack dismissed both as perfectly ordinary. "I think if you look back at her tenure, in terms of her activities, you will find all of these activities perfectly normal and consistent with the way she has done her job over the past three years or so," he said. "If she is actively seeking the vice presidency, then she's the last one to know about it."
In fact, actively seeking a job would be out of character for Rice. Throughout her career, she has found herself unexpectedly chosen for high-level posts by powerful patrons, such as when she was named provost of Stanford without ever being a department head or even full professor.
Rice has mused about returning to the faculty at Stanford and perhaps writing a sober political science book that only policy wonks would want to read. But would the very ambitious Secretary really be able to resist a history-making bid for the vice presidency if McCain came knocking on her door?
That's unclear. But first McCain would have to ask.
The presumptive Republican nominee professed surprise on Sunday about the reports that Rice was seeking the job. "I missed those signals," he told reporters Sunday, though he called Rice a "great American."
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trai ... or_vp.html
