[Guard Dog]

I would have be inclined to agree about Rice not being an ideal candidate simply because she has no elected office experience. People who have been through the electoral process have a better insight on dealing with the public as well as the motivations of their fellow politicians. However, I made the same argument against President Bush in 2000, since his elected office experience was pretty limited, and I was (happy to say) totally wrong. What I want in a president is clear moral values, high level of education and problem solving ability, and, most importantly, a solid steel spine. I believe Rice has all three qualities in abundance and I she ran in 2004, I'd vote for her.

[RebelBanker]

'04?

If you mean '08, I would vote for her in a New York minute as well.

[Steve_Seattle]

Rice appeals to a lot of Freepers, including me, but I think there are problems with her electability: (1) she has never held an elective office; (2) she is black and there is still a racist element that will vote against her for that reason alone - and some of those people are nominal Republicans; and (3) she is smart in a "brainy" way that scares some people. One reason that the anti-Bork campaign was so successful was that Bork was brainy and serious, and that scared the soccer moms, made him seem sinister rather than smart. And Rice has a little of that Borkian quality that might turn-off some voters.