"Condi versus Hillary"

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 July, 2006: US top diplomat Condoleezza Rice won rave reviews for her musical performance at the Asian security talks, despite skipping the traditional rowdy skits in favour of a sombre piano recital.

With North Korea firing off missiles, carnage in Lebanon, rockets raining on Israel and killings convulsing Iraq, Rice was in no mood for the kind of frivolity staged in previous years. In keeping with her “serious” mood the Secretary of State performed two pieces from the brooding repertoire of Johannes Brahms – a solo Intermezzo number two, and Brahms Sonata for violin and piano, opus 108, with a Malaysian guest soloist.

Regional ministers swooned over the performance as they left the dinner. “Oh, beautiful, beautiful. She’s a great pianist. She’s a concert pianist,” said Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, who insisted that despite the geopolitical realities a good time was had by all.

Rice’s decision to take the stage alone was a relief to some of her entourage. Karen Hughes, czar of US public diplomacy, admitted she had been let off the hook. “I can’t even hum,” she confessed.

In their recent book Condi vs. Hillary Dick Morris and Eileen McGann posit that Condi Rice is the only national figure who has the credentials, the credibility, and the charisma to lead the GOP to victory in 2008. A race between these two commanding, but very different, women would prove one of the most fascinating and important races in American history.

The book traces their very different childhoods -- Hillary Rodham's in suburban comfort, Condi Rice's in Alabama, during the civil rights era. It explores Hillary's career as an ambitious liberal who attached herself to a governor on the rise, Condi's career as a woman of broad and deep talents who has earned her own way.

In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine, Dick Morris explored and contrasted their psychology, integrity and intellectual ability.

Morris: Everything Hillary has accomplished has come in the wake of her husband's achievements. She became a partner at the Rose Law Firm because Bill became Governor. She got health care reform because he became president. She got the Senate nomination in a state in which she had never lived without a primary and with $45 million for the race because he was president.

Condi has done everything on her own. She graduated near the top of her class at the U of Denver at the age of 19, earned a masters degree from Notre Dame and a doctorate from Denver. She became a tenured professor in her 20s. At 34, she was negotiating directly with Gorbachev hammering out the details of German reunification as the President's chief advisor on Soviet relations. She is fluent in Russian and French. A world class concert pianist. She has an incredible mind and will.

Hillary is not her husband's equal as an intellect by any means. She is not a creative person and performs tasks through memorization and dedication. She is a hardened advocate but not a subtle mind. She is sincerely devoted to the ideals she stands for -- a vastly greater government role in health care, education, and the lives of people with a much greater tax burden to match. She is as close as we have to a genuine European Socialist in our politics.

As President, I think Hillary would repeal all the Bush tax cuts, including the cuts on the lower and middle income people. I think she would revisit and push her health care reforms of 1993-4. And I believe she would cripple Welfare Reform by substituting a vague education or job training alternative as a way to fulfill the work requirement. I think she would be a left wing ideologue and would not be good for the country.

I think that Condi, by contrast, would pursue a more conservative fiscal policy and would give priority to creating a stable global environment. Her sure grasp of foreign issues and her understanding of how to keep our country safe from terrorism would lead to a wise foreign policy which would be well beyond Hillary's ability.

Most of all, I think that a Rice presidency would lead quickly to the end of the legacy of racism that has dominated so much of our history. The impact of an African American presidency would be to send a message to every black boy and girl in the country that there is no ceiling and that they can be whatever they want to be.

Now all we have to do is convince Condi to run. With the NFL Commissioner job taken she may be more amenable to the presidency. My son John already has his Condi '08 T-shirt.