Against the Grain

Skewering Rice is impractical as well as unseemly.  The grains scatter to no good purpose.  The sole consequence of her reliance on intelligence community approved talking points, was that for one week, some members of the public thought that Benghazi was part of the spontaneous reaction to an anti-Muslim video that swept through much of the Muslim world.  As material became correlated and declassified, the misstatements were corrected.

Susan Rice's Sunday show segments had no policy implications, and resulted in neither loss of property, nor loss of life.  Her namesake, Condoleezza Rice, committed a more consequential error, but has been given a non-presidential pardon by Senator McCain.

Condoleezza's pronouncements on Iraq's nuclear capabilities and ambitions, notwithstanding uncertainty in the intelligence community, had far reaching policy implications.  Thousands died and hundreds of billions of dollars were spent. 

If McCain chooses to lead a rabid pack of Republicans, he should go after bigger game.

Romney Wimps Out

Condoleezza Rice on Romney's short list was a tantalizing story.  She could have been a game changer--appealing to independents, but challenging to a portion of his base.  It had the potential to replace discussions of Bain and tax returns.

But as soon as Romney received pressure from conservative groups he stepped on the story that his campaign had so carefully leaked.  Romney assured some conservative groups that Rice would not be the nominee, and publicly declared that his selection would be pro life (Rice is on record as saying she is mildly pro choice).

Another Romney flip has flopped.

Rice Bowl

What do you do when your business background becomes a bane not a boon?  You drudge up the name of a provocative potential VP and leak it to a friendly media source.  Romney desperately wants to change the subject.

However articulate, qualified and demographically desirable  Condoleezza Rice may be, Romney is unlikely to select someone who is pro choice and has ties to the Bush administration.  Romney wants to run out the clock until the public focus shifts to the Olympics, and he can remind voters of his role in the 2002 Salt Lake games.