Antone's Nightclub
Rice Shouldn't Run for President
RECEIVED Tue., Sept. 12, 2006
Dear Editor,
Can we please put an end to this talk about Condoleezza Rice running for president? Rice's only calling card is her résumé, which admittedly is chock-full of plum gigs. But governance and electioneering are result-oriented businesses, and in Rice's case, the results ain't pretty. No one's blaming her for 9/11, but, hey, it happened on her watch. Afghanistan? It becomes increasingly clear with each passing day that the Bush administration's greatest victory was a Pyrrhic one, if a victory at all. Iraq? Disaster. Israel? Disaster.
Look, Dave Campo, the hapless former coach of the Cowboys, also has a résumé that includes the top job in his profession, but after three successive 5-11 seasons, I didn't hear anyone clamoring for him to be given the keys to Texas Stadium. Meanwhile, Condi's guided U.S. foreign policy through the geopolitical equivalent of six winless seasons, and she's being mentioned for bigger and better things. Am I missing something?
Not only is Ms. Rice not deserving of the presidency, she's also ill-equipped for the rigors of such a campaign. Seriously, have you ever seen Rice on Meet the Press? Her filibustering responses call to mind the efforts of previous politicians from her home state of Alabama. And this isn't to say those responses aren't intelligent, but they're pedantic in a forum that requires pithy. This quality ties into her underlying problem – she's an academic, not a politician. She hasn't mastered the game, and it isn't one that's mastered overnight. Now, don't get me wrong, Rice's lack of political experience doesn't disqualify her from being president – just from running for president.
My advice to Condi: If you're serious about someday being president, go back to your home in California and run for governor. Those people will elect anyone.
Can we please put an end to this talk about Condoleezza Rice running for president? Rice's only calling card is her résumé, which admittedly is chock-full of plum gigs. But governance and electioneering are result-oriented businesses, and in Rice's case, the results ain't pretty. No one's blaming her for 9/11, but, hey, it happened on her watch. Afghanistan? It becomes increasingly clear with each passing day that the Bush administration's greatest victory was a Pyrrhic one, if a victory at all. Iraq? Disaster. Israel? Disaster.
Look, Dave Campo, the hapless former coach of the Cowboys, also has a résumé that includes the top job in his profession, but after three successive 5-11 seasons, I didn't hear anyone clamoring for him to be given the keys to Texas Stadium. Meanwhile, Condi's guided U.S. foreign policy through the geopolitical equivalent of six winless seasons, and she's being mentioned for bigger and better things. Am I missing something?
Not only is Ms. Rice not deserving of the presidency, she's also ill-equipped for the rigors of such a campaign. Seriously, have you ever seen Rice on Meet the Press? Her filibustering responses call to mind the efforts of previous politicians from her home state of Alabama. And this isn't to say those responses aren't intelligent, but they're pedantic in a forum that requires pithy. This quality ties into her underlying problem – she's an academic, not a politician. She hasn't mastered the game, and it isn't one that's mastered overnight. Now, don't get me wrong, Rice's lack of political experience doesn't disqualify her from being president – just from running for president.
My advice to Condi: If you're serious about someday being president, go back to your home in California and run for governor. Those people will elect anyone.
Gibbs Henderson