
Like everyone in this country, GOP presidential candidate John McCain says Condoleezza Rice is "a great American." And Secretary of State Rice obviously believes, as all Americans believe, that war hero McCain is perhaps the greatest American of all.
It's only natural that these two great tastes would go great together. That's why Rice's people are suddenly trying to make her the GOP nominee for vice president, while McCain is pretending like he has no idea what's going on -- or, considering McCain's age, he may simply have no idea what's going on.
On the traditionally quiet news day of Sunday, Rice made her ambitions known, through an intermediary. On the hit ABC show "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," a GOP insider announced that Rice is now
"actively courting the vice presidential nomination," despite denying any interest in the job for several years.
McCain, asked about Condi's suddenly visible campaign for the vice presidency, praised her great service to America while basically saying he knows nothing about her scheme.
ABC's Political Radar
put it this way:"I did not hear that. I missed those signals," McCain said. "I think she's a great American, I think there's very little that I can say that isn't anything but the utmost praise for a great American citizen, who served as a role model to so many millions of people in this country and around the world. But as I mentioned to you, we're not talking about the process because it just then gets into things that could easily to spill over into an invasion of privacy."
In other words, he would rather have John Edwards as vice president.
McCain is going into this General Election campaign with a bit of a disadvantage. While he is
undoubtedly a great hero who was shot down over Hanoi after dropping bombs on the North Vietnamese, McCain also carries the historical burden of being a warrior in one of the few wars America really lost.
Senator McCain's noble efforts to bring closure to our war against Vietnam reflect well upon his character, and in peacetime this
conciliatory approach to a longtime foe would be seen as dignified and e
ven visionary.
Tragically for both McCain and America, this is not peacetime. America's military is currently struggling in two theaters of war, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Worse, Secretary Rice's main contribution to America's history has been her advocacy of those troublesome wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Together, you have a pair of brave American leaders who just happen to be identified with the only three defeats in America's long, great history. There is not a Panama or Gulf War or WWII or Spanish-American War or Grenada or V-Day between them.
Losing builds character, it is true, but Americans will think twice before electing a presidential ticket that has lost three wars. In this country, we prefer winners.
Ken Layne is the editor of Wonkette. He has never yet lost a major U.S. war.