U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2008
Clinton V Rice?
If Hillary Clinton runs, Republicans believe only Rice can defeat her
By Roger Mitton
US Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON - IT IS being called the match-up from heaven.
 FACE-OFF: Some observers think Dr Rice (below) is the only person with the charisma, credentials and voter appeal to beat Mrs Clinton (above), who is likely to win her party's nomination. Dr Rice could nullify Mrs Clinton's appeal to women voters, as well as grab a larger share of the blue-collar, black and Hispanic votes. -- PHOTOS: AP |
Across the United States, pundits are salivating at the prospect of a 2008 presidential election between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Mrs Clinton, whose husband Bill was president from 1992 to 2000, is seen as being certain to run. She is way ahead in her bid to win re-election next year to a second term in the US Senate.
That campaign and the war chest of funds it has generated will be a perfect platform for her to slip right into the presidential race.
Her husband has said she could be a better president than him. 'In some ways, she would be because of what we did together,' Mr Clinton told Israeli TV last weekend.
'First, she has the Senate experience I did not have. Second, she would have had the eight years in the White House. She has the best of both worlds.'
Mr Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution in Washington said Mrs Clinton was now the favourite to win the Democratic Party's nomination. 'If the public mood remains sour in 2008, Hillary would have a good chance of unifying liberals and moderates, and thereby winning the election,' he said.
| VERY DIFFERENT WOMEN |
| Hillary Rodham Clinton, 58 Graduated from the Yale Law School, where she served on the board of editors of the Yale Law Review and Social Action, and where she also met husband Bill Clinton.
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Republicans are so concerned that they have been trying to work out who could beat her.
One theory is that they could opt for a traditional conservative, southern male candidate, banking on the belief that Americans in the heartlands are not yet ready for a woman president, and a liberal one at that.
The other possibility would be to match Mrs Clinton on her own terms and go after the female vote. On this score, one name keeps coming up: Dr Rice.
Ex-Clinton adviser Dick Morris, who co-authored the book Condi Vs Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race, said Mrs Clinton had the 'undeniable advantage'.
Only Dr Rice had the charisma, credentials and voter appeal to stop her, he said.
Certainly, Dr Rice is the most popular member of the Bush administration. Recent polls gave her approval ratings of above 70 per cent.
'Rice's assets include being seen as an important, widely known and respected figure who threatens some Democratic voting blocs on behalf of the Republicans,' said Professor Byron Shafer of the University of Wisconsin. He said that Dr Rice, as an African American, would grab a larger share of the black vote that goes traditionally to Democrats.
And being a self-made woman who has progressed without privileged connections, she may woo blue- collar and Hispanic voters away from the Democrats.
She would also nullify Mrs Clinton's appeal to women voters. If both candidates are women, then that vote is likely to be split between them.
At this stage, Dr Rice's standard reply is she has no experience at elections.
'I never ran for anything, not even for high school president. No, I know my place,' she said last month.
Yet her actions seem to belie her words. Political observers noted that although her portfolio is exclusively foreign affairs, she has taken several domestic trips and appeared to be testing the waters for a White House bid.
After Hurricane Katrina struck, she visited the Gulf Coast. Last month, she again toured the southern states.
With her popularity soaring, websites and TV commercials have been urging her to run for president.
If she takes up the challenge, her main hurdle is likely to be winning over traditional conservative Repu- blican leaders.
'Rice might well be a better candidate for the general election than for the nomination. She is essentially a moderate to liberal official in a Republican administration,' said Mr John Samples of the Cato Institute in Washington.
For Mrs Clinton, the reverse is true. She is regarded as having a far better chance of securing her party's nomination than of winning the election as her liberal views, combined with the scandals that marred her husband's presidency, may thwart her appeal to conservative middle-class Americans.
'The argument that Senator Clinton should be considered the Democratic frontrunner rests on wide name recognition, certified ability at fund raising and a huge network of connection among party activists,' said Prof Shafer.
If she and Dr Rice do run, the world will be captivated by a married, white, liberal woman from the north-east fighting an unmarried, black, conservative woman from the south. They are both extremely intelligent, energetic, articulate and charismatic.
Few experts are willing to bet on the outcome of such a race.