|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Rice: America Ready to Elect Black President
America is ready to elect a black president, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The nation's highest-ranking black government official, Rice has said repeatedly she will not run for president despite high popularity ratings and measurable support in opinion polls.
"Yes, I think a black person can be elected president," Rice said in an Associated Press interview Thursday. She said the first successful black candidate will be "judged by all the things that Americans ultimately end up making their decision on: Do I agree with this person? Do I share this person's basic values? Am I comfortable that this person is going to make decisions when I'm not in the room that are very consequential?"
At the same time, she said, "we should not be naive. Race is still an issue in America. When a person walks into a room, race is evident. It's something that I think is going to be with us for a very, very long time."
Story Continues Below
Rice declined to say whether she would like to see her predecessor, Colin Powell, become a candidate. Powell is a fellow black Republican.
"I'm not going to give Colin any advice and he's not going to give me any advice on this one," Rice said.
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is the most prominent black politician to emerge as a potential candidate for the 2008 presidential race. Rice was asked whether, watching Obama's rise, she thinks Americans are willing to put a black in the White House.
© 2006 Associated Press.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: Inside Cover Stories
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print Page 
Forward Page 
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2009 NewsMax.Com |