RICE FOR PRESIDENT?

RICE FOR PRESIDENT?
Pros and cons
PROS
She's one of Bush's closest friends, and he would put his powerful machine behind her.
She will become one of the best-known women in the world over the next four years.
National security is a key issue to voters since Sept. 11, 2001, so she can play off her experience as national security adviser.
She could make inroads into the black vote and among single women, constituencies without which Democrats cannot get elected.
Her life story is dream material for a campaign.
CONS
She's not a great stump speaker and has no experience in running for office. She's "mildly" supportive of abortion rights, is pro-affirmative action and hasn't taken a position on gay marriage. Republican primary voters won't like it.
She may prefer to be NFL commissioner, which she has often called her dream job.
The GOP may not be ready to nominate a black woman -- all the black women in national offices are Democrats.
Her refusal to admit any mistakes in the months before Sept. 11 and the war in Iraq could make her candidacy a referendum on Bush's foreign policy.