'Mildly Pro-Choice' Rice Won't Rule Out Presidential Bid.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described herself Friday as "mildly pro-choice" and "kind of libertarian" on abortion, and left the door open for a presidential race in 2008.
Rice, who took office Jan. 26 after four years as President Bush's national security adviser, said she "can't imagine" running to succeed her boss and that she is "not trying to be elected." But she said she knows people are talking about the possibility, and did not rule it out when pressed repeatedly.
"If you go back to 2000 when I helped the president in the campaign," she said, "I said that I was, in effect, kind of libertarian on this issue. And meaning by that, that I have been concerned about a government role in this issue. I am a strong proponent of parental choice -- of parental notification. I am a strong proponent of a ban on late-term abortion. These are all things that I think unite people and I think that that's where we should be. I've called myself at times mildly pro-choice."
Rice, a former Stanford provost, told the Times that she believes the president "has been in exactly the right place" on abortion, "which is we have to respect the culture of life and we have to try and bring people to have respect for it and make this as rare a circumstance as possible."
"There are a lot of things that we can unite around and that's where I would tend to be," she said. "This should be an issue pretty infrequently because we ought to have a culture that says that, 'Who wants to have an abortion? Who wants to see a daughter or a friend or a sibling go through something like that?' "
Rice's image-conscious staff has refined the way she is portrayed on television, compared with her predecessor, Colin L. Powell. Instead of taking questions with foreign dignitaries in front of the State Department's glass doors, she appears in the monumental Benjamin Franklin State Dining room, with Corinthian columns and crystal chandeliers. She meets photographers in front of a fireplace that evokes the Oval Office, and has given many more interviews to U.S. and international reporters on overseas trips.
(3-13-05 The Washington Post.)
Rice, who took office Jan. 26 after four years as President Bush's national security adviser, said she "can't imagine" running to succeed her boss and that she is "not trying to be elected." But she said she knows people are talking about the possibility, and did not rule it out when pressed repeatedly.
"If you go back to 2000 when I helped the president in the campaign," she said, "I said that I was, in effect, kind of libertarian on this issue. And meaning by that, that I have been concerned about a government role in this issue. I am a strong proponent of parental choice -- of parental notification. I am a strong proponent of a ban on late-term abortion. These are all things that I think unite people and I think that that's where we should be. I've called myself at times mildly pro-choice."
Rice, a former Stanford provost, told the Times that she believes the president "has been in exactly the right place" on abortion, "which is we have to respect the culture of life and we have to try and bring people to have respect for it and make this as rare a circumstance as possible."
"There are a lot of things that we can unite around and that's where I would tend to be," she said. "This should be an issue pretty infrequently because we ought to have a culture that says that, 'Who wants to have an abortion? Who wants to see a daughter or a friend or a sibling go through something like that?' "
Rice's image-conscious staff has refined the way she is portrayed on television, compared with her predecessor, Colin L. Powell. Instead of taking questions with foreign dignitaries in front of the State Department's glass doors, she appears in the monumental Benjamin Franklin State Dining room, with Corinthian columns and crystal chandeliers. She meets photographers in front of a fireplace that evokes the Oval Office, and has given many more interviews to U.S. and international reporters on overseas trips.
(3-13-05 The Washington Post.)
posted by Sid Cottingham | 8:32 AM
2 Comments:
This morning on Meet The Press, Rice said, "I will not run for President" and "I won't run for President" when pressed by Russert.. which rules out a bid.
But perhaps she just did it to get the media off her back, after all.. if she does run, the performance won't hurt her.
Jen: Such a statement does not, in my thinking, rule out a bid. She is just saying she is not going to be seeking it now. She would love it. In her interview with the Post she would not make a Sherman statement. This person is not out of a '08 race, not by a long shot.
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