WASHIKNGTON - Former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is near the top of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney‘s list of vice presidential picks, the Drudge Report, a conservative website reported Friday.
Citing anonymous sources, the report said that the former Massachusetts governor has narrowed his list of choices and that Ms. Rice, who currently runs the political action committee She-PAC, is a leading candidate. “It was Condi who received two standing ovations at Romney’s Utah retreat a few weeks ago, and everyone left with her name on their lips,” the report pointed out. “Rice made an extended argument for American leadership in the world.”
The story comes despite vigorous and repeated denials by Rice that she would not be vice president. Rice told “CBS This Morning” June 26 that “I didn’t run for student council president.
I don’t see myself in any way in elective office.”
“There is no way that I will do this because it’s really not me,” she said. “I know my strengths and weaknesses.”
On Wednesday, Rice emailed She-PAC supporters, who are aiming to elect more conservative women, saying that the “2012 is perhaps a turning point for the United States.”
The Drudge story came about an hour after the Romney campaign sent a teasing email entitled “Mitt’s VP.” “We’re getting ready to share some exciting news. Sometime between now and the Republican convention, Mitt will be announcing his choice for VP,” campaign manager Matt Rhoades wrote.
Rice, an African-American, would still be considered a surprise choice as she carries a lot of baggage from the still unpopular George W. Bush era, not least her leading role as an architect of the Iraq war.