Condi Rice gunning for McCain's VP slot?

I found this story through ThinkProgress, which links to the original source at The Washington Note. The Washington Note's Steve Clemons reports that Secretary of State Condi Rice spoke before a secret meeting at Grover Norquist's powerhouse gathering at the Americans for Tax Reform. According to Clemons, this secret gathering is the place where Republican political hopefuls "migrate to to get the blessing of not only Norquist but the diverse parts of the nation's conservative money and political machinery, Norquist gives everyone in the room 3 minutes to pitch their cause or issue." A major GOP political operative told Clemons:

Someone like Condi Rice doesn't go to Grover Norquist's den to talk about the Annapolis Middle East peace process. She's going to secure her future in Republican politics and to position herself as a 'potential' VP candidate on the McCain ticket.

I can't say whether this is political hogwash, or if Rice is seriously considering applying for the VP slot on McCain's ticket. Of course, this brings up another interesting conjecture in that would John McCain really want Condi Rice on his ticket? If there is one negative that Condi Rice brings to the McCain campaign, it is that she will be a link between the McCain campaign and the Bush administration's failed war in Iraq. You can bet that a lot of questions about her own conduct in the Bush administration's marketing for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, or even her smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud comment. There will certainly be a lot of questions about her conduct within the Bush administration on every facet of the Iraq war, even to her current work as Secretary of State within the current Bush administration. This is serious baggage. And since the McCain campaign will want to distance itself from the current Bush administration's policies on Iraq, are they willing to bring on one of President Bush's closest advisers on Iraq into their campaign?

There is also a second issue that I am somewhat reluctant to talk about, and it is Condi Rice's race and gender. I have no problem in seeing Condi Rice, a black female, run for vice president, or even president. I have no problem seeing Hillary Clinton run as the first serious female presidential candidate, any more than I have no problem seeing Barack Obama run as the first serious black presidential candidate. However, I do have a question of whether hard-lined conservatives--especially the conservatives in the southern states--are willing to vote for a black female as the vice presidential candidate on the GOP ticket. There is still an undercurrent of racism within America, and especially within the Deep South. Look at how the Republican Party slyly used racism against Harold Ford Jr. in the 2006 Tennessee U.S. Senate campaign (I met Harold at the Playboy Party). Look at the stories showing widespread GOP voter disenfranchisement against black and minority voters. Are we to now believe that the Republican Party will disregard the use of racism and voter disenfranchisement against blacks and minorities in order to send a black woman to the VP slot in 2008? I just can't see that. In addition, Condi Rice is not just a woman, but also a single woman that would be running for the VP slot. Will the Religious Right be happy having a single woman occupying the second most powerful position in the White House? Or would the Religious Right rather have women stay at home and take care of the house, the children, and stand by their presidential husbands? It just seems too much of a change for a political party that wants to be unchanging.