There is renewed talk in political circles of Republican challenger Mitt Romney possibly leaning toward former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as his vice presidential running mate.
While this point in the campaign season is always filled with wild speculation about running mate choices, this rumor is considered to have more weight because it came from the Drudge Report, a popular site in conservative circles run by Matt Drudge, who is reportedly close friends with Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades. That means that either the campaign is seriously considering Rice, 57, or the campaign wants to see the public reaction to stories about Romney picking Rice—a pick we first floated here at Atlanta Black Star last month in a column by Jackie Jones.
The Drudge Report attributed the Rice pick to “sources” in the campaign. The Drudge item said Rice sent a fundraising email on behalf of Romney last night as part of the campaign’s “Meet the VP” drive, intended to encourage small-dollar donors to give money and possibly be chosen to meet Romney and his eventual running mate.
Romney said earlier this week during a speech in Grand Junction, Colo., “I can tell you…the person I choose, you will look at and say, well, that’s a person who could be president, if that were necessary…And that, for me, is the most important single criteria.”
“As a cold blooded political matter, you look at that kind of number and what she could do for me, and you have to be a little bit tempted if you were Mitt Romney,” said conservative commentator Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard.
