| I never cared all that much for Dick Morris who was a | | | | Mideast crisis. Some might criticize her for being blindly |
| former advisor to President Clinton for twenty years. | | | | loyal and in lock step with international policies that |
| Morris, who advised Clinton for 20 years, is best | | | | have gone awry, but that comes with the territory in |
| known for managing Bill Clinton's successful 1996 bid | | | | being a loyal member of a president's administration. |
| for re-election, but his tenure on that campaign was | | | | What goes on between Rice and Bush and what |
| cut short just before the election when it was | | | | advise she may be giving him and what |
| revealed he was involved in a scandal of juicy | | | | disagreements they might have are kept behind closed |
| proportions. Morris resigned under pressure (though | | | | doors....and that seems to me to be the way it should |
| there are different and interesting stories as to the | | | | be. Of course, that she is more intelligent than her boss |
| reason), following which he turned his focus to media | | | | is manifest.There is no question that she will be tested |
| commentary. Upon reflection, I suspect being | | | | as never before in the coming weeks. These will be |
| pressured to resign for sexual escapades by, of all | | | | the toughest issues with which she will be confronted |
| people, Bill Clinton could engender some legitimate | | | | thus far. But if she should get through them with |
| bitterness. Anyway, he now writes a weekly column | | | | positive results and a measurable degree of success, |
| for the New York Post and appears regularly on the | | | | the phrase "why not" might become more than just a |
| Fox News Channel. He is a harsh and non-relenting | | | | subject for Dick Morris to harp on. Her star will rise |
| critic of the Clinton's and has written several books to | | | | rapidly.Moreover, there is a growing feeling that Rudy |
| that end. One is entitled, "Condi vs. Hillary : The Next | | | | Giuliani has far too much baggage to be a viable |
| Great Presidential Race" in which he makes the case | | | | presidential candidate and Sen. John McCain seems to |
| for the election of Condoleezza Rice to the | | | | be placing himself out of the mainstream of GOP |
| presidency. When I first noted this, I wrote it off as a | | | | politics. As Lieberman now struggles, so would McCain. |
| case of payback.....but lately I have been surprising | | | | Giuliani's messy divorce and positions on abortion, gay |
| myself by having second thoughts on the viability of | | | | marriage and gun control are likely to make him |
| such a notion. I have also come to appreciate that | | | | unpopular among social conservatives and there are a |
| Morris is as sharp as a new copper penny when it | | | | large number of conservatives who seem to totally |
| comes to political analysis and campaign | | | | dislike McCain. As for Allen, Frist, Pataki, Romney, etc, |
| strategy.....perhaps more so than James Carville, | | | | they offer little to cheer about. |
| George Stephanopolous and/or Paul Begala.Dr. | | | | If the Democrats move to the center as Clinton did |
| Condoleezza Rice is the 66th and current United | | | | and triangulate, they will be tough to beat in the next |
| States Secretary of State and the second in the | | | | election. In my view, Senator Hillary Clinton may well be |
| administration of President George W. Bush. She | | | | their candidate due to her strength with the black, |
| worked as an advisor in various capacities to the first | | | | Hispanic and women vote, her disciplined and shrewd |
| Bush administration, eventually replacing Colin Powell on | | | | strategy of making few waves as she learned the |
| January 26, 2005 after his resignation. Philosophically, I | | | | Senate ropes, and her ability to garner strong financial |
| view her as social conservative, but more importantly, | | | | backing. So, based on these suppositions, what can the |
| as someone who does her duty to her country with | | | | Republicans do?How about the notion of nominating |
| dignity, mainstream values and the utmost | | | | United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice |
| professionalism. And I sense that I am not alone with | | | | and hiring Dick Morris as her campaign advisor. As he |
| this growing admiration for an extremely talented | | | | did with Clinton, allow Morris to devise a strategy of |
| person.There is something special about her that goes | | | | "triangulation," whereby Rice would appeal to a diverse |
| beyond ambition, her unflappable and steely | | | | group of voters by distancing herself from both the |
| persistence, and strong presence. Some have | | | | Democratic and Republican parties......or at least the |
| suggested it is her will to master whatever she | | | | more extreme segments of each. This strategic move |
| encounters. As just two examples, she mastered the | | | | to the center of the political spectrum might disappoint |
| piano as a young girl and, later, the complex field of | | | | some who want Rice to pursue a far more |
| Soviet military affairs.Some criticize her for being a non | | | | conservative policy but it would check (and perhaps |
| politician; I say that's an advantage. Being National | | | | checkmate) Hillary. If the Democrats play checkers, the |
| Security Advisor and Secretary Of State during a war | | | | Republicans should play chess....but that can work in |
| and having been Chancellor of Stanford are good | | | | reverse as well.Certainly Dr. Rice carries with her the |
| enough qualifications for me. In June 1999, she | | | | considerable baggage of the Bush Administration, most |
| completed a six year tenure as Stanford University 's | | | | notably Iraq and a flawed policy of promoting |
| Provost, during which she was the institution's chief | | | | democracy worldwide as a "cure" for terrorism and a |
| budget and academic officer. As Provost she was | | | | "replacement" for theocracies, but who else knows the |
| responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and the | | | | working of the Oval Office better? Who else is better |
| academic program involving 1,400 faculty members | | | | qualified to beat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, should |
| and 14,000 students. As professor of political science, | | | | she be the candidate?I say Secretary of State |
| she won two of the highest teaching honors -- the | | | | Condoleezza Rice may be the one. With success in |
| 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in | | | | the Mideast and the right political strategy, why |
| Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities and | | | | not?"Don't be Afraid To See What You See." Ronald |
| Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching. | | | | ReaganHe writes a bi-weekly column for a local |
| Born in 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, she earned her | | | | newspaper and is a regular contributor to the NH |
| bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi | | | | Business Review. He specializes in columns, articles, |
| Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974; her | | | | essays, op-eds, and short stories. Many of his works |
| master's from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; | | | | are widely published.His works focus on issues and |
| and her Ph.D. From the Graduate School of | | | | themes dealing with socio-political topics, business and |
| International Studies at the University of Denver in | | | | economics (in which he advocates a free market |
| 1981So much for her qualifications as she now | | | | approach to capitalism), patriotism, and matters dealing |
| emerges as the single most important person in the | | | | with individual freedom.They are frequently inspirational |
| Bush Administration, particularly since Dick Cheney has | | | | in nature and sometimes reflect the Objectivist |
| disappeared and Rumsfeld has become "irrelevant." | | | | philosophy of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. Ted |
| The tenacious and hard working Rice continues to | | | | is also a boxing historian and a member of the Boxing |
| serve her country by trying to work a peace in the | | | | Writers Association of America. |