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McCain's Secret Weapon

By Gabor Steingart in Washington

When two people argue, it sometimes means that a fourth person wins out. The increasingly hostile duel between the Democratic presidential contenders could present a golden opportunity for one of the great talents in US politics: Condoleezza Rice. She could very well end up becoming McCain's running mate.

Let's imagine that the first female president of the United States is elected in the near future, but that her name is not Hillary Clinton. And then let us imagine that the first black president moves into the White House in the foreseeable future, and that this person's name is not Barack Obama.

The answer to the riddle is, of course, Condoleezza Rice. The daughter of an Alabama pastor, an accomplished pianist, Bush confidante and secretary of state, she has all of the traits that are currently spread between the two Democratic candidates. She is experienced and perceptive, she is black and female, and she is adept at giving courageous speeches.

Her life story is as emotional as a novel by Alice Walker, who achieved global fame with her drama about the American South, "The Color Purple." Rice was eight when four girls were killed in her city in a bombing attack perpetrated by white racists in a local Baptist church. Rice had been friends with one of the victims.

Rice stands a good chance of being nominated as the Republican vice-presidential candidate. Because of his age -- he is already 71 -- Senator Join McCain might only serve a single term. Standing at his side, she could launch her own presidential campaign from day one. While the two Democrats continue to tear each other to shreds in the run-up to the Democratic nominating convention in August, Rice would emerge as a beaming fourth player. Her entry into the White House, in 2012 or possibly even earlier, would then fall within the range of the possible.

A Little Glamour Wouldn't Hurt McCain

Only yesterday, McCain did not rule out Rice as a possible running mate. When asked about Rice, he said only that she hadn't approached him yet. At the same time, he did his utmost to praise her, as a "great American" and as a "role model to millions of people in this country and around the world."

The McCain team is feverishly looking for a secret weapon to get his somewhat impotent campaign back on track. He has three weaknesses as a candidate. McCain is solid but brittle, so a little glamour couldn't hurt him. He is experienced but old, so he needs youth. Finally, he is a white man who made himself unpopular with black voters almost 25 years ago when he voted against a bill to create the Martin Luther King federal holiday. Having a black woman at his side would be helpful.

Another argument that cannot be underestimated is that Condoleezza Rice would pacify the conservative Bush camp within the Republican Party. Although liberals see McCain as too conservative, the right considers him too liberal. Rice, a close confidante of the current president, would help minimize this assumed defect.

Her greatest miscalculation, the Iraq campaign, is judged differently -- that is, more forgivingly -- in these circles. There is probably nothing about which the Europeans are more mistaken than the unpopularity of President George W. Bush.

It is certainly substantial, but not as great as many believe. A large share of Republicans see him as a wartime president, a man who cut taxes and privatized government responsibilities and, finally, as Bush, the unshakeable. Despite the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the 4,000 American soldiers killed there to date, at a recent get-together at the Washington Hilton the Republican party base chanted: "Four more years." Bumper stickers that read "Support our Troops" can be seen everywhere.

'Condoleezza Is Campaigning for Her Candidacy'

There is a kernel of truth to the speculation over Rice, despite her spokesman having denied any such aspirations. The clues that point to her interest lead directly to foot soldiers in the Republican Party.

For the first time since taking office as secretary of state, Rice recently visited one of the meetings of the lobby group Americans for Tax Reform, especially influential during election periods. It is important to note that, for many Americans, their love of country is only exceeded by their affection for money.

Republican strategist Dan Senor, who served as the spokesman for the US civilian administration during the initial period of the Iraq occupation, said after Rice's appearance at the event: "Condoleezza has become active. She is campaigning for her candidacy." One thing he did reveal is that she did not discuss NATO.

Rice has also commented publicly on race, a sensitive issue in domestic American politics. Her fellow Republicans had just opened fire on Barack Obama, who had run into difficulties because of hateful tirades delivered by the pastor of his church, when Rice stepped in, acting as a living protective shield for the Democratic Party candidate. Slavery, she said in an interview with the Washington Times, happens to be a "birth defect" for America. Europeans and Africans, she continued, came to the New World at the same time, the former of their own free will and the latter in chains.

There is a recording of the interview that would not have ended up on the paper's Web site without her cooperation. Speaking in a soft and sometimes surprisingly silky voice, she seeks to explain instead of instruct. She is noticeably single-minded, even tough, but not pigheaded.

The now-deceased journalist Johannes Gross once said that, in ordinary life, people are not divided between left and right, dull and clever, or poor and rich. Indeed, Gross said, the dividing line runs between the pleasant and the unpleasant.

McCain will be the one to decide whether this will be enough to qualify Rice as a vice-presidential candidate by the end of the selection process. A complicated mechanism has begun, in which the strengths of other candidates, such as the economic competency of businessman Mitt Romney, are being weighed against Rice's weaknesses, including her lack of closeness to the party base and poor economic experience. The pollsters will likely have their say, as well. Rice herself said Wednesday that when the Bush administration comes to a close, she would prefer to return to a job at Stanford University. But the credibility of such statements is not exactly high.