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| Condoleezza Rice |
One of my ongoing political passions is the California US Senate race.
For the greater part of my life, I have lived in a state
languishing under two of the more liberal and/or worst US Senators in modern
history. Dianne Feinstein, the senior senator by a few months, won her latest
reelection by thirty points. She had deftly
refused to debate her last opponent, arrogantly confiding to one reporter: “I’m running my own campaign.”
Feinstein is barely tolerable compared to her ultra-liberal,
retiring counterpart. Junior US Senator Barbara Boxer, a progressive
figurehead, claimed
that a “baby is a baby when it’s born”, relentlessly played the “War
on Women” card. She engaged in subtle race-baiting against the CEO of the Black
Chamber of Commerce. She also glibly taunted US Senator Lindsey
Graham. No one can forget her shameless shaming of US
Senator James Inhofe after the 2006 election. Elections have consequences? They
sure did in 2014, when Boxer playfully ate her own words (with far less
media present). Histrionic but ultimately inconsequential, Boxer will not be
missed.
Now that Boxer is trading “Senator” for “Ma’am” once again
(including a weird rhyme to her grandson), there is conservative hope in the
Golden State. Or is there? While the state motto may be “Eureka!” (I’ve found
it), California conservatives have not yet found the candidate to restore the
Republican glister in the deep blue state. In 2014, Republicans unseated Democratic
incumbents in the state assembly. Can the California Republican Party translate
local victories to its first statewide victory since 2006?
Who was the last statewide Republican to run and win?
Insurance commissioner Steve Poizner, but he has not signaled any interest,
either, even though he is the latest winning statewide Republican who then ran
for higher office (he lost the 2010 gubernatorial primary).
Another name has been on many Republicans’ mind, lips, and
heart: Condoleezza Rice.
Why not Condi? A successful African-American woman (check
all three boxes for good identity politics), she governed Stanford University
as a prudent provost. A strong profile in personal integrity, Rice did more
than merely travel as National Security Adviser then Secretary of State during
the Bush Administration. Also to her
credit: she
rebuffed rude Boxer who impugned her character during her confirmation
hearing as secretary of state. She is moderate on key issues, which would
ingratiate her to a more centrist voting bloc.
Rice would be the perfect candidate for US Senate. I even contacted
her through a friend of mine to consider running. Her
response was respectful yet succinct:
I know we'll have a
good candidate .... and please thank Mr. Schaper for me and tell him that I'm
honored by his appeal. Political office
isn't for me....
Fine. She is not interested in the seat. Politics is not for
everyone.
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Didn’t they get the memo? Who is connected with these
eblasts? The Conservative Action Fund (CAF). The group’s chairman, Shaun
McCutcheon (of McCutcheon v. Federal
Election Commission fame) answered some questions about these email
donation requests pushing a Condi candidacy:
Where does the money go? How are you spending it?
[A]bout 40% of CAF money goes direct to conservative
candidates in campaigns. The rest goes primarily to media firms to send
conservative messages like this message which is not reported as a campaign
expense. Candidate recruitment, polls and other political messages are part of
the 60%.
What is your role within the organization, because I get
the blasts with your name attached to them?
I’m the chairman. I don't control the fund. I'm the
largest contributor to the funds.
He also
answered why the CAF was promoting Condi, even though some of her views don’t
qualify as conservative (pro-choice, pro-amnesty):
She is conservative enough for California. Potential
candidates need all the positive support they can get. Certainly positive
messages may persuade her to run. Running is hard and there are always plenty
of reasons not to run.
A bigger question lingered: will this petition work? Frankly,
any online draft petition defeats the whole purpose. Rice is appealing
precisely because of her strong leadership record: not taking polls or weighing
public relations reactions. She said “No!” and she meant it. Give up it, national
conservatives. She is not running.
Yet why do these political groups keeping promoting “Draft
Condi”? Raising money. It seems unethical to keep trying to draft someone who
has declared both publicly and privately: “No thanks.”
What is the fundamental lesson for conservative partisans?
Running for office is not fantasy football. Real people invest time and energy
into a campaign, as McCutcheon has explained. It’s an office, a calling, not
just another person bringing up numbers in a legislative body.
It seems that California conservatives, like their national counterparts,
want “the perfect candidate”, the same way that prospective buyers look for the
perfect car: right age, low mileage, cheap insurance costs, etc. You can find a
good car, and Californian Republicans will find a good candidate.
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| Abraham Lincoln |
Besides, why should Republicans fall into this “Fearless
Leader” complex, as if the “just right” candidate will set aright the flailing
course of California’s comeback, capitulating to the right amount of pleas? No
one considered a one-term Congressman from Illinois, with a record of routine
failure, viable let alone electable for President. Yet Abraham Lincoln became
the first Republican Chief Executive, with an honorable legacy of freeing the
slaves, keeping the United States united.
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| John C. Fremont |
So, Condi isn’t running. Conservatives shouldn’t lament, for
one candidate cannot restore what California, and this country, need once
again. Good conservative representation matters, but its success rests on
concerted efforts of concerned citizens making the difference.
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