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Condoleezza Rice is actively pursuing the vice presidential spot on John McCain's ticket. Confirming rumors that were ignited last month when Rice visited Grover Norquist's gathering of conservative political organizations at the Americans for Tax Reform (see headland's Is Condi Rice signaling an interest in being McCain's VP?), Republican strategist Dan Senor said today on This Week with George Stephanopoulos: “Condi Rice has been actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning for this” (see Dan Senor: Condoleezza Rice is Pursuing the VP Spot, ABC News).

Labels: Condoleezza Rice, John McCain, Vice Presidential Nomination

Steve Clemons in Washington Note reports today that Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice spoke this morning at Grover Norquist's gathering of conservative political organizations at the Americans for Tax Reform, a move he is told may signal an interest in future Republican politics.

As one major Republican operative told me yesterday:

Someone like Condi Rice doesn't go to Grover Norquist's den to talk about the Annapolis Middle East peace process. She's going to secure her future in Republican politics and to position herself as a 'potential' VP candidate on the McCain ticket.

("BREAKING: Condi Rice Flirts With VP Possibility -- Speaks to Grover Norquist's Wednesday Group Meeting")

UPDATE: After today's meeting, Clemons gave this report ("More on Condoleezza Rice - Grover Norquist Group Meeting"):

The first question Condoleezza Rice received at the meeting was one about her "political future." She responded by saying that she was not interested in more government service at this point -- that she wanted to return to California and write a book that reflected on her time and work in the Bush administration. So, she is telegraphing a "no" about the possibility of a Vice Presidential possibility. Others still argue that one does not talk serious foreign policy matters with the Wednesday Group Meeting without wanting to also telegraph that one might be interested in political futures. In other words, though saying she is not interested in the Vice Presidential slot on a McCain ticket, Condoleezza Rice might be convinced at some point to give up her near California dreams if "necessity" required it....[S]he gave a tour de force discussion of America's global foreign policy and national security positions....

And by all accounts I have heard, her performance was stunningly good, very well received by one of the major bastions of American conservative power players, and that she "won them over," according to one source.

She spoke for 20 minutes and stayed there for 50. She took lots of questions -- and left no one with the impression that this was just about selling President Bush's next nine months in the foreign policy game.
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UPDATE 2: The Evans-Novak Political Report claims Rob Portman, former Ohio congressman, former U.S. trade representative and former OMB director, has the inside track for McCain's VP selection. See: Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

Also see: "Portman praises McCain, but deflects talk of interest in vice presidential slot," Walter Alarkon, The Hill

Labels: Americans for Tax Reform, Condoleezza Rice, GOP, Grover Norquist, John McCain, Robert Portman, Vice Presidential Nomination

In an uncharacteristic move, the Associated Press (byline: Calvin Woodward) accuses Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton of oversimplifying McCain's position on the future of American troops in Iraq.

But Hillary Rodham Clinton and especially Barack Obama have distilled McCain's position into sound bite oversimplifications, suggesting he foresees a war without end in anyone's lifetime.

THE SPIN:

Obama: "We are bogged down in a war that John McCain now suggests might go on for another 100 years."

Clinton: "I've also been a leader in trying to prevent President Bush from getting us committed to staying in Iraq regardless, for as long as Senator McCain and others have said it might be — 50 to 100 years."

THE FACTS:

The Democrats leave out a vital caveat.

When McCain was asked about Bush's theory that U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 50 years, the senator said: "Maybe 100. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, it's fine with me, and I hope it would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaida is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day."

A troop presence that does not involve Americans being harmed is, by definition, not a war.

Labels: al Qaeda, Al-Qa'idah, Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaida, Barack Obama, Calvin Woodward, Hillary Clinton, Iraq, John McCain

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo calls attention to a rather anomalous sequence of events in Washington State, following the GOP caucus there:

As you know, John McCain lost two of the three contests yesterday. He was losing narrowly in Washington state and then pulled ahead by a narrow margin (less than two points) toward the end. But then with 87% of the returns counted, the Washington state GOP, which runs the caucuses stopped releasing results. That left us and a lot of other news organizations in a bit of a quandary last night since it looked like McCain was going to pull it off. But as late as 1:30 AM on the east coast promised new results kept failing to materialize.

Then over night the Washington state GOP put out a press release announcing McCain the winner based on the 87% returns. Now, I think it would be borderline for a media organization to declare one candidate a winner when the margin separating first and second was 1.8% with 13% of the results still uncounted. But for the officials holding the election to declare the result on that basis is simply bizarre. But that's what they did.

At least one news organization (FoxNews) announced around midnight EST that the count was being suspended and would not be resumed until the morning. That announcement seemed rather bizarre, since normally vote counters do not break off from counting a close election at 9 p.m. on election night. Another update occurred less than an hour later, bringing the total precincts reporting to 87%, where it remains frozen more than 12 hours later. In the meantime, Washington State Party Chairman Luke Esser's declaration of McCain as the winner (available at Washington GOP) made no mention of any suspension in the count and announced the result with an air of certainty and finality:

“What a great day for Washington Republicans. They came out in full force today to support their candidates, and to make their voices heard. Congratulations to Sen. McCain for a hard-fought win, his second caucus victory in the 2008 presidential nomination process. And congratulations to Gov. Huckabee for his strong second-place finish.”

The GOP website reports that final results are not expected until Monday.

UPDATE: The topic of the Washington caucus results came up briefly today in Tim Russert's interview of Gov. Mike Huckabee on Meet the Press, and Huckabee suggested that his campaign may be looking into some "legal issues":

MR. RUSSERT: Next up is Tuesday, we have Maryland and, and Virginia. Here's Mason-Dixon, latest polls out this morning: McCain, 54; Huckabee, 23 in Maryland. In Virginia, it's McCain, 55; Huckabee, 27. You're the decided underdog in both those states.

GOV. HUCKABEE: Oh, sure. That was before the caucuses and primaries yesterday. I think we're going to get a pretty nice little bump out of what happened in Kansas. You know, we weren't polling big in Kansas; we won 60-to-24. Most people--in fact, we didn't think Louisiana was winnable because of the way they're structured. It's a very strange structure. That was a surprise to us. Washington state, it's not quite yet over; still too close to call.

MR. RUSSERT: Well, the party has declared it over.

GOV. HUCKABEE: They have, but there's some weird things. We're, we're looking at some legal issues up there, and so we're not ready to concede that one until we understand how...

MR. RUSSERT: You think on Tuesday, though, Virginia's your best state?

(Meet the Press, February 10, 2008).

UPDATE 2 The Huckabee site calls attention to the suspension of the vote count and promises that they are looking into the matter.

UPDATE 3 Fox News Exclusive: Huckabee Campaign Calls for “Full Investigation” into Washington State Results

Fox News has learned that the Huckabee campaign has called for a “full investigation” into the Washington State Caucus results, and are sending campaign lawyers to the state to help in that pursuit. Ed Rollins, Huckabee campaign chairman, directly challenged Washington State GOP Chairman Luke Essers move in anounncing that John McCain had won the tight race with only 87.2 percent of the votes counted.

”The chairman showed very bad judgement in stopping the voting last night when announcing John McCain had won, when there was less that a 200 vote margin between the two candidates,” Rollins told Fox in an exclusive interview.” You never announce a vote, in my 40 years of politics I have never know anybody to announce a vote count before the vote is counted.

Rollins was quick to say that they were not accusing the McCain campaign of anything but that their issue was soley [sic] with the Esser’s “Bad judgement”.

Fox News was given unprecedented access to a strategy session today, with the Huckabee campaign inner circle. Ed Rollins, the national campaign chairman, lead the meeting where the main topic was how to challenge the Washington caucus results. Rollins also said their attorneys have attempted to contact Essers but as of this writing he had not returned their phone calls.

UPDATE 4: Here's the video of the above exchange on Meet the Press (hat tip to Talking Points Memo):

Labels: GOP, John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Washington State

With the expected departure of Rudy Giuliani later today, the race for the Republican nomination boils down to two serious contenders and two also-rans. In the spirit of comity, here is some friendly advice to the four survivors:

• Ron Paul: Make a deal with the Republican establishment. You pledge not to run as an independent, they let you stay in the debates. McCain should want you there, since your isolationism is the perfect foil for his support of a strong military, his only claim on the right wing of the party. If you should get in the debates, play up your limited government message and limit any anti-war rants.


• Mike Huckabee: Get over any illusions that being friendly with McCain will win you a spot on his ticket. His brand in November is secularism and (moderate) progressivism. He has no interest in being asked whether his running mate supports Darwin. Get over your grudge against Romney. If you mend fences with him and help him beat McCain, you have some chance of getting on his ticket, since you can help him with social conservatives and lower-income, southern voters.


• Mitt Romney: Give up trying to brand yourself ideologically. Buy fuzzy, feel-good ads that show you off as vigorous and handsome. When you need substance, show off your economic wonkishness and play up your executive experience. Do not run any more negative ads. Say only nice things about McCain's "service to the country," but stay in the past tense when you talk about him to sustain doubts about his age.


• John McCain: Take Fred Barnes's advice and go on Rush Limbaugh's radio program (O'Reilly's too). Expect to be grilled on the litany of grievances conservatives have with your domestic positions. Your "I learned my lesson" position on border security and amnesty will work, so long as you aren't too touchy about the word 'amnesty'. Try to steer questions about campaign finance away from 1st amendment objections and toward concerns about earmarks and special interests. Say your "Gang of 14" compromise preserved the filibuster as a tool for the Republican minority, and take credit for both Roberts and Alito. Back away from any doubts you may have expressed about Alito wearing conservatism on his sleeve. Bolster your partisan credentials by reminding people of your tireless campaigning for Bush in 2004. In the coming weeks, resist the urge to triangulate prematurely. You can still lose the nomination if you talk about "green collar" jobs or emphasize the soft side of your views on immigration.

Labels: John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani

The leaked grand jury testimony of Barry Bonds, admitting to the use of a "clear" and a "cream" supplied by his trainer, but denying any knowledge that these substances contained anabolic steroids or human growth hormone, makes for a scandal that shakes baseball at its core. The quasi-confirmation of suspicions surrounding Bonds are of much greater significance to baseball than the open admission by Jason Giambi or the charges swirling around other players. Bonds matters most, because he holds one of the most important records in baseball, the single season home run record, and is in line to break another, Hank Aaron's lifetime home run mark.

Bonds insists he believed that the substances he used were a rubbing balm for arthritis and a nutritional supplement flaxseed oil. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate's Commerce Committee with the authority to oversee professional sports, was understandably skeptical of Bonds's claim: "As a sports fan, and knowing Mr. Bonds the way I do, who knows every calorie and everything that he takes into his body, it's difficult for me to believe," McCain said.

Lost in much of the discussion of Bonds's claims of ignorance is the fact that his culpability should have nothing to do with whether his records ought to be recognized. To recognize a record is not a reward and to refuse to recognize that record is not a punishment. The validity of the record does not depend upon issues of mens rea. When a record in track and field is disqualified because of wind speed, no one complains that this is unfair to the athlete. A record is meant to afford legitimate comparisons to performances past and future. To accomplish such intergenerational comparisons, we must have reason to believe we are comparing what is commensurable. Bonds admits to using substances provided to him by Gary Anderson, Bonds's friend and alleged merchant of designer steroids. If baseball wishes to preserve the integrity of its most esteemed records, it should move to strike from its books any record Bonds has set in the past four years.

Labels: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, human growth hormone, Jason Giambi, John McCain, Major League Baseball, steroids