News and Commentary Archive for April, 2005 April 1, 2005: The end of another month and the beginning of a new one! And what a month it has been! You can check our news archives to review past postings. There has never been a dull moment. Looking ahead to the future, you'll see us active in more states and with more media -- especially in key early primary states. You'll notice that our old guestbook is no longer functioning. We are going to add a new guestbook to the website, but our old outsourced guestbook was too inefficient. If you made a guestbook entry in the past, it was not ignored, but it may be several weeks until you are included in our new Condista database. We invite you to join our TEAM CONDI online forum. WE NEED YOUR PARTICIPATION! We regret the cumbersome registration process, but it has proven necessary due to constant cyber attacks by those who do not share our vision. April 1, 2005: The end of another month and the beginning of a new one! And what a month it has been! You can check our news archives to review past postings. There has never been a dull moment. Looking ahead to the future, you'll see us active in more states and with more media -- especially in key early primary states. You'll notice that our old guestbook is no longer functioning. We are going to add a new guestbook to the website, but our old outsourced guestbook was too inefficient. If you made a guestbook entry in the past, it was not ignored, but it may be several weeks until you are included in our new Condista database. We invite you to join our TEAM CONDI online forum. WE NEED YOUR PARTICIPATION! We regret the cumbersome registration process, but it has proven necessary due to constant cyber attacks by those who do not share our vision.
April 2, 2005: Condistas in Guam!? That's right! This picture shows a Condoleezza Rice for President 2208 bumper sticker proudly displayed above the Guam license plate. Guam isn't the only distant location where you might see our bumper stickers, etc. We've had orders from Europe and Africa, as well as all corners of the USA. If you have a photo you'd like to share, send it to us and we might post it. (We'll block out the license number, if you so desire.)
April 4, 2005: Our old Guestbook has been deactivated. We invite all those who share our vision to join our online forum, TEAM CONDI. The registration is a little cumbersome, but it is well worthwhile to become part of the online community.
April 4, 2005: In a New York Post interview on April 2, 2005, VP Dick Cheney acknowledged that a female president is "entirely possible" and expressed his preference for Dr. Rice in a potential Rice-Clinton race. No surprises, but interesting. Unfortunately, the entire article is not visible in the New York Post archives unless you want to cough up, $3.50.
April 4, 2005: Matt Lewis is a political trainer, a "young Turk" of conservative politics. We briefly mentioned the launch of his new blog, Matt Lewis & the News, last month, but it was rapidly "swept away" by the onslaught of March's "Condi-Mania" (media's term, not ours). He is President of his own consulting firm, Campaign Leadership Company, LLC. He offers excellent ideas for effective campaigns and political activism. His online newsletter is available free and comes highly recommended.
April 4, 2005: The Hilltop, Howard University's online newspaper, today published Shannon Russel's article, Condi Wins Praise, Fans Push for White House Bid. Nice to see the idea being "kicked around" at one of our nation's premier historically-black institutions.
 April 8, 2005: For the politically fashion conscious, we are going to have the "Condi 2008" lapel pins available by the end of the month. If they are popular, other designs may be produced as well. Click on the "Lapel Pins" button to the left to order yours -- before they are all gone!
April 8, 2005: In response to the April 4th Hilltop article by Shannon Russel, our own Crystal Dueker wrote about AFR's plans for the future. Her letter appears as President-elect Condi Rice? in today's Hilltop, the Howard University student newspaper.
April 8, 2005: Are we the only ones who find it intriguing that Dr. Rice was included in the presidential delegation to the Pope's funeral that included Presidents Bush, 41 and 43, and President Clinton? Read the USA Today article about the funeral here.
April 10, 2005: They're back! Our website polls are FINALLY back for our website users. In the past, we have had many difficulties with polling. Please e-mail the webmaster if you have any difficulties with our polling questions. Our polls are quite unscientific, but nonetheless entertaining. Click on the "Polls" button to the left.
April 10, 2005: Condi's "Negatives" The naysayers for a Rice candidacy in 2008 always bring out their laundry list of reasons why Dr. Rice can’t be elected. RightWingNews.com’s John Hawkins was one of the most recent writers to fall into this trap, set by “conventional wisdom” but sprung by the facts of history to painfully lock onto the ankle of its author. (With all due respect to AnkleBitingPundits.com) The two most common of these reasons are that Dr. Rice is single and that she’s never held elected office. Hawkins summed this up as follows in a posting on his website: “Condi...hasn't been married at 50 and has never held office before. If she were to run, ....she'd be hit with savage attacks on her personal life and her inexperience would be a huge minus in a run at the presidency.” Crystal Dueker, our researcher, did some digging and puts these “issues” to rest. First of all, the unmarried/single point is a non-issue. There were three men who were in this same state of "singleness" at the time they became President of our nation. Thomas Jefferson was a single man when he became President in 1801 (his wife has died before the 1800 campaign). He remained a bachelor for his entire 8 years of service in the White House. Dolly Madison served as Jefferson's first lady and hostess at White House diplomatic events; even participating in policy discussions along with her husband, James, who was Secretary of State. Another unmarried president was James Buchanan, who also had served as Secretary of State before he was elected President in 1856. Although he served only one term, being a single man did not deter his service in any way to our nation. The third unmarried/single United States President was Grover Cleveland. He was unmarried at the time he served as Governor of New York -- as well as when entering the White House as a bachelor in spite of a media sex scandal in 1884. The people ignored the media and elected him because they knew of his reputation as an honest man and a trusted official who defeated Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall to clean up the Democrats and their corruption. During his first term in office; Grover (at age 49) and his young bride Frances wed in June 1886. He became the first president to get married in the White House.
We believe being single is an asset for Madam Secretary Rice. As a business acquaintance remarked to me in Pompano, Florida, "She is free to do her job; she is a career woman -- dedicated to her work and loyal to the President. She is able to travel immediately to anywhere in the world at a time of crisis or for an important event like the death of a Pope without worrying about her children or spouse. Likewise, she went on an 8-day European tour and then later a 10-day Asian tour without the stress of children or husband. No husband “baggage” can be an asset -- unlike Geraldine Ferraro's corrupt husband problems in 1984 dragging down the Democrats." For their own private reasons, other women have been dedicated to their career. Some are without children, and some also married late in life. Senator Elizabeth Dole and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao are just a few examples. I can't imagine anyone asking these political wives if they COULD EVEN have children. (Unfortunately, the media has become more of a snooping dog instead of a watchdog.) Americans for Dr. Rice believes that 8 years of experience in the Bush II Administration and her years in the Bush I Administration are the perfect training grounds for the oval office. She knows the inner workings of the White House, State Department, indeed, the entire executive branch. She will hit the ground running as she becomes President in January 2009. (Her service for 6 years as Provost of Stanford University in charge of a $1 billion budget with over 1,400 academics plus thousands of students was also excellent executive training.) Finally, Hawkins and others have said Condi is a “weak” candidate. We remember her strength in standing up against attacks by Senator Boxer during her confirmation hearings as well as her sterling performance before the “political theatre” otherwise known as the 9-11 Commission. We have seen her stand firm on the world stage, supporting our troops, to defend the foreign policy of our Presidents. Condi Rice has the backbone of a strong leader, the stamina of an athlete from daily workouts, and multilingual skills to speak to world leaders. We see the “weakness” in blowhard Senators who talk yet never have the results to show the voters. In fact, only 2 Senators have been directly elected to the White House in the past 100 years, Harding in 1920 and Kennedy in 1960. On the other hand, the Office of Secretary of State provided Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and James Buchanan with the leadership skills and worldwide relationships they needed before each became President. These are all strengths of Madam Secretary Rice when compared to the limited statewide viewpoint of an elected Congressman, Senator or governor. With the President’s role as “leader of the free world” in an age of complex international relationships, worldwide experience will trump any hand held by other candidates -- on either side of the aisle.
April 11, 2005: Condistas on the National Mall. Several Condistas from George Washington University went to go see the cherry blossoms while wearing the height of political fashion -- their Condi t-shirts. The same ones that are available on this very website, and rumor has it that these were the same shirts that greeted Senator Frist when he tested the presidential waters in New  Hampshire last month. (After that, we think we were crossed off of his Christmas card list -- at least for the upcoming holiday season -- or until he starts to seriously think about courting Condi, in a political sort of way, for the VP slot.) The Condistas were mobbed by the surrounding tourists and any, and all, Condi items -- that they just happened to have with them -- disappeared quickly. Of course another added benefit of Condi apparel for the young, politically astute, college-age male suffering from "spring fever" is their highly-touted ability to attract like-minded, politically astute women as evidenced by these exclusive Condista photos. Sometimes it is hard being a Condista, but someone's gotta do it! Any volunteers?
April 14, 2005: Political-News.org now has a Condoleezza Rice News page. We have looked into custom news feeds in the past for the website, but have always been stymied by the cost. This is a good alternative for the time being.
April 16, 2005: Introductory Pricing for Apparel has Ended. As the demands on our limited funds have increased, we have had to terminate the introductory prices for t-shirts & polo shirts. We'd give them away, but the "bean counters" won't let us! All orders for items at the former prices have been shipped this weekend. For orders that were made with no size information (before our shopping cart system was instituted), we will cancel your order and refund your purchase unless we hear from you in the next 48 hours.
April 16, 2005: What's Up with the Canadian Postal System? We get some orders from "North of the Border", but about half are returned for various reasons -- that change with every inquiry. The most common are: "No customs declaration." (For a bumper sticker in an envelope?) "Foreign political materials are subjected to time-consuming inspections." "Irregular sized envelopes require additional postage." (OK, we give up! How much? We've put double the postage on an envelope, and they've still been returned.) If anyone knows more about Canadian postal regulations, please let us know! Otherwise, we will have to stop sending items to Canada.
April 16, 2005: PayPal Difficulties. When you place an order with PayPal, they are supposed to send us a confirmation e-mail, which we have used in the past as the source documents for our shipping and order database system. It has come to our attention that when several orders are made simultaneously, the PayPal system will occasionally, only notify us of one of the orders. We have reviewed our shipping lists against all of our PayPal transaction logs and think that we have found all of the "lost" orders. If you have not received your order within 3 weeks after ordering, please e-mail us. Please be aware that we are an all volunteer organization and it may take a week, or two, before get your order in the mail. We are all learning the ordering system, but there is a "learning curve" and occasional errors are made.
April 16, 2005: Website Down Yesterday after Denial of Service Attack. In the past as one of the principle "Condi" websites, we have been the target of various types of online "attacks" Our web server provider has been less than helpful. Fortunately, other outside government and private agencies are lending us some assistance. If any of you are familiar with website security let us know. In all likelihood, we are going to have to go to a dedicated web server, where we have direct control over the security measures. Of course, this costs MONEY. We really need your support April 16, 2005: Show us the money! We have managed to do alot with very little, but NOW is the time to back up your support. Your donations are used for critical functions. As little as $15 can put radio advertisements in early primary states. We are nearing the April 30th FEC filing deadline, it would be nice to show as much support as possible on this publicly available document. DONATE NOW.
April 17, 2005: Our VP and Opponent Polls are back by popular demand. Go to our Polls page to vote or see the results!
April 17, 2005: Free Republic Straw Poll. Vote for Condi today! Follow this link to the Free Republic 2008 Presidential straw poll. You may have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see the poll on the right hand side. By the way, Condi's winning as of tonight!
April 17, 2005: We Like Ike! The "Draft Eisenhower" story is very interesting, especially to Condistas. Click here to read a summary on our Team Condi discussion board. If you're not already, take this opportunity to become a member of our online community. (The "I Like Ike" button image is courtesy of Mr. Ronald Wade in Longview, Texas. Visit his site to see his extensive political memorabilia collection. ) This could serve as the model for a "Draft Rice" movement starting today. Required reading for all Condistas! If we are going to follow this blueprint, we'll need grassroots efforts in all 50 states to put Dr. Rice's name on the ballot. If you're up to joining the challenge, join the online forum and make your presence known. We need people, and of course MONEY, if we're going to make this happen.
April 18, 2005: Condi Maintains a "hard-line" on UN Reform. The UN needs much needed reform with a firm hand. Dr. Rice stands firm in her support of John Bolton as the nominee for US ambassador to the UN. Read this article for further details.
April 20, 2005: In spite of Dr. Rice's insistence that she's not running (That's why we're drafting her!), Dick Morris in Palm Beach tells a group of 500 at Palm Beach's Forum Club on April 14th that
"I believe the only person who can win the nomination as a social conservative, defeat Hillary Clinton in the election and go on to be one of the most wonderful presidents we've ever had is my candidate in 2008 — Condoleezza Rice."
You can read Michele Dargan's Palm Beach Daily News article here.
April 22, 2005: For the next several days, as we get our new server configured, various website functions may not work. Those of you with AmericansForRice.com e-mail addresses may have a gap of a day, or two, before we send you the new configuration information for your e-mail programs. Thank you for your patience. The discussion board will be back up and running -- one way or the other. Those of you who posted previously may need to re-register if we change our discussion board software.
April 23, 2005: How do you say "Condista" in German? Martin Suter in the Sunday News, a Swiss, German-language publication, wrote "In Weisbaden, Rice has already won." Today we received an e-mail from Berlin that we think speaks for itself. We post it here unedited.
Hi from Germany,
Here's one voice, from "Old Europe", who supports this US Government & Policy.
Since WW II, the US have protected and defended Europe, many parts of Asia and Latin-America. Sometimes the way wasn't the finest, but the aim, was always right! The aim of free people living in a free society, in a peaceful world.
This US administration is not just speaking about a free world, after the
9/11 - Attacks, they acting. In many parts of the world, especially in western Europe, the people don't see the long term -good- impact of this administration.
They don't see the whole picture of this period of history.
They don't see, that US interests are nearly 99% are western Europe's interests, too.
Dr. Condoleezza RICE is of course the right canditat for 2008!!
The right canditat to continue the Bush policy, in an better way, this means more elegant, for the rest of the world, but with the same faith in God and with the same passion of believing in a World of the Free.
So many, many THANKS to the people, who stand for this homepage, who believe in Condi 2008!
SO GO ON and ON and ON!!!
--------------------------
I'm a Berlin German law student (of course former WEST Berlin), who absolutely knows, what it means, having US troops as friends and as a protections force.
-----
B., Timo Jasper
April 27, 2005: Vegas or Bust! We're going to be in Las Vegas at Freedom Fest, are you? In an effort to continue organizing across the country, this we'll be an important event, May 12-14. We'll post reports of our exploits just as soon as they happen.
April 27, 2005: Vigilantes? We received e-mail that was very negative about Dr. Rice's (and President Bush's?) use of the term "vigilante" to describe the "Minuteman Project" -- the citizens' group that "staked out" a section of the US-Mexico border. In general, we admire the way that the Minutemen carried out their border "protest" (for lack of a better term) calling attention to the crisis on our Southern border, and we disagree with the "vigilante" characterization. Hopefully, the administration and Dr. Rice will reconsider their opinions on this topic, and the responsible behavior by the Minutemen will continue. Last night on Hannity and Colmes, an organizer of the Minuteman Project, Chris Simcox, reported Senator John Kerry made statements of support regarding their activities yesterday and that they have an appointment today with Senator Hillary Clinton. This sounds like political opportunism at its best to us -- but the administration would do well to rethink this one. That said, our support for Dr. Rice is in no way diminished. No one ever agrees 100% with another, and we do not believe that a self-described Second Amendment "absolutist" -- whose father patrolled her neighborhood during the civil rights struggle of the 60's when she was a child -- would continue to hold such opinions in light of the exemplary conduct of the "Minutemen".
April 29, 2005: Rodale, Inc., a large publishing company of mostly "lifestyle" magazines and books, has acquired the rights to a yet-to-be-published biography of Dr. Rice entitled, Twice as Good, by Newsweek Senior Editor and Chief of Correspondents Marcus Mabry. The following is taken from a a press release by Rodale, Inc. concerning the book's author:
Mabry is an African American who shares Rice's status as a former fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; and, coincidentally, both concentrated their studies at Stanford on the Soviet Union. It is from this uniquely shared perspective that he will write a biography that not only tells the story of the most powerful African American woman in the history of U.S. politics but also examines the larger questions of identity, race, class and politics that her story poses for blacks, whites and both political parties.
The book is scheduled to come out in 16 months, right before the 2006 elections -- after which the 2008 presidential election will begin in earnest.
April 29, 2005: Condi Landslide! The Free Republic Poll, "Which of the following presidential hopefuls would stand the best shot of defeating Hillary in '08?" has Condi in the lead with 33.5% in a field of 10 (including "Other"). Her nearest competitor was Rudy Giuliani with 17.4%. April 29 ,2005: Blunt Diplomacy and Spike Heels. The Associated Press Diplomatic Reporter, Anne Gearan, writes today,
Rice quickly has emerged as one of the most recognizable of Bush's senior circle and the only one mentioned as a possible candidate for president. Rice has said she does not want that job -- NFL commissioner would be more to her taste --but not everyone buys that.
She also points out that Dr Rice's job approval in a recent CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll was 61%. This was compared to Colin Powell's stratospheric 75% job approval, but she continues the comparison into the fashion realm -- where Dr. Rice is clearly superior. Of course, in all fairness, we don't think that spike heels come in the former Secretary's size -- so he is at a disadvantage.
April 29, 2005: Ms. Right in 2008? Knight-Ridder's Bill Ferguson asks, in an April 17th editorial, "So how do you address a woman president, anyway?" He alludes to a potential Clinton-Rice race in 2008 and suggests that Americans are "ready" for a woman president. (Of course, we already knew that!) We're obliquely referred to as well: "Some of them (Republicans that support Dr. Rice) believe they have the perfect answer (to a Hillary Candidacy), and her name is Dr. Condoleezza Rice."
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