WASHINGTON, D.C., July 13, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – According to media reports, Mitt Romney is considering naming former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as his vice president, a rumor that has social conservative leaders up in arms.
Conservative activist Richard Viguerie is encouraging people to “call Governor Romney at 857-288-3500 to let him know that we demand he choose a real conservative as his running mate.”
Rice describes herself as “mildly pro-choice.” She favors homosexual unions and Affirmative Action and is widely believed to have voted for Barack Obama in 2008.
Viguerie, a founder of the 1970s New Right and editor of the Conservative Digest, says the mere fact that the Romney campaign may be considering a pro-abortion vice president is “a slap in the face.”
“We want someone who conservatives recognize as one of their own, not some nominal Republican who the news media thinks of as a conservative because he or she has an ‘R’ for Republican beside their name,” he said. “And that describes the pro-choice Condoleeza Rice all too well.”
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Other conservatives and pro-life, pro-family leaders – while not as outspoken as the conservative political veteran – share his concerns.
Katrina Trinko at NRO’s “The Corner” wrote, “Both Rice’s views on abortion…and her years in the Bush administration seem likely to generate controversy, while I’m not seeing any group of voters that she would automatically attract. ”
Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser pointed out that Romney had promised a pro-life running mate. “Former Secretary Rice’s position on the sanctity of human life makes her an unqualified candidate for Governor Romney to choose as a running mate,” Dannenfelser said. “Throughout the campaign, including at the Palmetto Freedom Forum last September, he has pledged to us in no uncertain terms that he would choose a pro-life running mate.
“We have taken Governor Romney at his word and therefore believe Secretary Rice will be ruled out of consideration. Secretary Rice’s position violates criteria that Governor Romney himself has laid out.”
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins previously responded to a remark from Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels that he might consider Rice as a running mate, saying that her view on abortion “makes her a non-starter with social conservatives.”
Others are taking the unusual tack of pointing out one of their own potential candidate’s inexperience, noting Rice had no domestic policy or executive accomplishments.
Bloggers at The American Spectator are clinging to hopes that Drudge’s track record of VP speculation is not the best.
Conservative opposition to a Condoleezza candidacy appears as deep as it is broad. As of this writing, a poll on National Review Online asking, “Is Condoleeza Rice the right VPOTUS pick?” found 63 percent saying no.
Many believe there is nothing to worry about. Conservative blogger Erick Erickson tweeted on Thursday that he has “multiple assurances from Team Romney tonight that Condi isn’t happening for Veep.”
Still, some have hoped for a Condoleezza Rice vice presidency. In 2008, columnists Floyd and Mary Beth Brown floated the idea in a nationally syndicated column. “Hopefully the most exciting job to date will be offered to Condoleezza Rice by a Republican nominee that needs to energize his campaign,” they wrote. Mary Beth Brown, who wrote a book on Condi, called her “John McCain’s Best Choice for VP,” writing that the choice would help John McCain “solidify the Republican base.”
Dick Morris, a Republican strategist who formerly advised Bill Clinton, wrote a book stating the 2008 race should be Condi vs. Hillary.
The woman McCain chose instead of Rice, Sarah Palin, called Rice a “wonderful” choice, although she would “prefer a presidential and vice presidential candidate who had that respect for all innocent, precious, purposeful human life.”
Ultimately, the greatest veto over Rice’s candidacy belongs to Rice herself.
“I didn’t run for student council president,” she said in June. “I don’t see myself in any way in elected office.”
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