The London Telegraph reports that First Lady Laura Bush would like to see Condoleezza Rice replace her husband as President in 2008.  Rice served as Director of the National Security Council(NSC) in Bush's first term and currently serves as his Secretary of State.  Philip Sherwell of the Telegraph also discusses in the article the hot Washington rumor that Ms. Rice "might be named as vice-president if the incumbent, Dick Cheney, were forced by his health to stand down."

There has been a lot of talk recently, fueled by (among others) former Clinton political consultant Dick Morris, that Condi Rice would be the most formidable candidate for the Republicans in 2008 against Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic contender at this time.  However, many conservatives have serious reservations about a Rice candidacy.  They were unimpressed with her performance as Director of the NSC and view Rice as having little real world experience outside her academic career and her governmental service.  Social conservatives are not comfortable with Rice's pro-abortion stance, and economic conservatives are skeptical that she would address the serious problems of our budget and trade deficits as President.  The Telegraph article also notes that neoconservatives would oppose a Rice candidacy since she has been less supportive of their policy positions after moving from NSC to State.  Most of the neoconservative leadership supports the candidacy of Sen. John McCain who is the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2008.  It is difficult to see how Rice could emerge as a serious contender in 2008 (Laura Bush's support notwithstanding) unless she wound up replacing Dick Cheney as VP prior to the beginning of that nomination process.

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