Rumor or reality? Condoleezza Rice as McCain's VP

BY NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON | nia.henderson@newsday.com

April 8, 2008

It's the kind of rumor that sets conservatives buzzing - is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice actively campaigning to be Sen. John McCain's vice presidential pick?

So said a Republican insider on a Sunday morning talk show. And so the rumor that just won't die - that Rice has big-time political ambitions - got another jolt. By yesterday the denials and partial denials began. Again.

This go-round, a few things got the rumor started.

Rice dropped by a weekly meeting of conservative leaders last week headed by Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform. She also gave a lengthy interview to the Washington Times, a favorite newspaper of conservatives. Add to that her name recognition, and - voil ... ! - McCain's got his vice president, the rumor goes.

Never mind that all of this came as news to McCain. Traveling aboard his campaign plane, McCain said he had "missed those signals" that Rice is supposedly sending, though he went on to praise her.

For her part, Rice, sounding very different from the none-too-subtle Mitt Romney, responded this way to questions about her plans back in February:

"I have always said that the one thing that I have not seen myself doing is running for elected office in the United States," Rice said. "You know, it's sort of not in my genes."

It's probably the "have not seen myself doing" part that leaves enough wiggle room to keep the rumor mill going.

But this detailed denial from State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, should put this rumor to rest forever:

"If she is actively seeking the vice presidency, then she is the last one to know about it," he said yesterday. "She plans on going back west of the Mississippi to Stanford when she's completed her work as secretary of state."

Well then, that settles it. For now.