Officials: 'Good possibility' McCain will pick Rice

JERUSALEM – There is a "good possibility" Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could be chosen as Sen. John McCain's presidential running mate, Palestinian officials here say they were told by U.S. politicians in recent days.

"We were told by U.S. politicians there is a good possibility we may still be dealing with Rice in the future, but this time as vice president," one Palestinian official told WND.

Another Palestinian official also said he recently heard from U.S. politicians Rice is likely to be McCain's running mate.

Neither Palestinian official would say which U.S. politicians provided them with the information.

Both Palestinian officials regularly meet with Rice, including during her trip to the region earlier this month to push through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations started at last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit.

The Palestinian officials also meet regularly with U.S. regional security coordinators and State Department officials.

Rice in February denied she is seeking the vice presidential slot.

"I have always said that the one thing that I have not seen myself doing is running for elected office," Rice said at a news conference. "I didn't even run for high school president. It's sort of not in my genes."

The State Department has not replied to WND's request for comment.

A number of bloggers and some media outlets speculated Rice may be positioning herself to serve as McCain's running mate.

ABC News last month quoted Republican strategist Dan Senor stating Rice has been actively courting for the slot.

"Condi Rice has been actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning for this," Senor said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

"What the McCain campaign has to consider is whether or not they want to pick a total outsider, a fresh face, someone a lot younger than him, a governor who people aren't that familiar with," Senor said. "The challenge they're realizing is that they'll have to have to spend 30 to 45 days, which they won't have at that point, educating the American public about who this person is.

"The other category is someone who people instantly say, the second they see that announcement, 'I get it, that person could be president tomorrow,'" Senor added. "Condi Rice is an option."

The left-leaning magazine The Nation also recently speculated about a Rice campaign.

"John McCain is a formidable candidate in his own right, but if he has the political imagination to do it, he can cause the party of Jefferson and Jackson indescribable angst with Rice as his vice-presidential pick," wrote Nicholas Von Hoffman in a Nation column.

"Besides being the greatest two-for in GOP history, Rice brings other huge pluses to the decorated Vietnam hero. Indeed, she may be enough to elect the venerable hero/naval aviator," Von Hoffman wrote.

Meanwhile, U.S. News and World Report yesterday quoted a top McCain fundraiser stating former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tops McCain's vice presidential list.

Columnist James Pethokoukis said "a top Republican political strategist told me about a month ago that he also believed Huckabee to be the leading veep contender."

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