According to the encyclopedia.com
article about Condoleezza Rice, she has been described as the most influential
woman in global politics. According to Forbes Magazine, Condoleezza Rice is the
most powerful woman in the world. I would argue that those are both statements
that make Rice an admirable figurehead. If Rice were to run in the 2016
election it would be very beneficial for her to not only draw on those
statements, but to use her past as a way to enhance her image. Rice would need
to highlight all of the experience she has from working along side former
Presidents, while not mentioning the negatives that come along with her
involvement in that Presidency (supporting the war in Iraq). Everyone loves the
idea of the American Dream, and overcoming obstacles to become successful, it
would be crucial that Rice stressed how hard she had to work as an African
American woman from a middle class family to get to where she is today. It
would be important for her to make herself relatable, showing the people that
she understands the struggles they face.
Strengths that Rice has are the past
experience she has in politics and foreign affairs, and her personal
accomplishments. I believe that people, whether they liked the Bush
administration or not, will see Rice’s contribution to that presidency as a
positive thing. Yes, she was an advocate for going to war in the Middle East,
and that is a negative thing now, but at the time that seemed like the best
option. Condoleezza’s expertise in international affairs could not only benefit
in ending that war, but also strengthening our nation’s relationship with other
countries. Even if people think negatively about Rice’s involvement in the Iraq
war, they will be impressed by Rice’s personal triumphs. Becoming the first black
woman national security advisor, and the first black woman Secretary of State
are amazing accomplishments that anyone can appreciate. Even though we
currently have a black president and Condoleezza has made huge moves for
African American women in politics, her raise and gender could be viewed as a
weakness. It is unfortunate that in 2015 those types of things could be viewed
as weaknesses in a candidate, but some people would.
An opportunity that Rice could
experience is the feminist movement. Feminism has become a very popular, and
having a feminist woman run for president would be a very big deal. A threat that
Rice could experience is the gay rights movement, because Rice does not support
same sex marriage and that is a very big issue in today’s society.
Issues I believe Rice would
highlight if she were to run would be abortion, women’s rights, and
international affairs. As a woman her view on abortion and women’s rights might
carry more weight than a male counterpart. She has a lot of experience in
international affairs, and it would be beneficial for her to emphasize that. I
believe she should highlight those issues because foreign affairs is something
our country has been struggling with and women’s rights has become a hot topic
recently. I think it is especially interesting that, as a conservative
Republican Rice is mildly pro-choice. A quote from Rice on Politico states that
she does like government involvement in moral decisions, and although she does
not understand why someone would be in favor of abortion, she does not understand taking that decision away from families.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Condoleezza_Rice.aspx
http://www.forbes.com/power-women/
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78489.html
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/13/politics/rice-vp-pros-cons/
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Condoleezza_Rice.aspx
http://www.forbes.com/power-women/
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78489.html
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/13/politics/rice-vp-pros-cons/
Great analysis. I really enjoyed reading. Rice is a very smart candidate. She is also unique in so many ways. I feel that she may not be the ideal female candidate for this upcoming election for reasons you mentioned. Even though I agree with her on most every issue, I feel that she will not attract a large enough audience through her positions to defeat a Clinton.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. I did not pick Condoleezza because I felt that she was the most qualified for the position, or because I agree with her ideologically. I picked her because I believe she has accomplished a lot, and I wanted to see if becoming president was an accomplishment she could add to that list.
DeleteI thought that this was a very accurate assessment of Condoleezza Rice. I enjoyed you pointing out her potential issues that she would highlight if she were to run in the election, but I especially liked how you elaborated on how certain stances she holds may assist her more than people she may be running against. That was definitely a good extra analysis to add. Good analysis, it made for a good read.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the positive feedback, it is comments like this that give me the encouragement necessary to write the next blog post!
DeleteYou did a good job of capturing who Condoleeza Rice is. But do you think that she actually would have enough pull with a republican party to win the nomination?
ReplyDeleteCondoleeza's track record proves that she is a fighter, and that she will work hard to get what she wants. I think if she really wanted the position that she could get enough people to endorse her, for example the Bush family.
DeleteThese are some great facts to taut the legitimacy of Condoleeza, but isn't there any other weakness that she might have other than the increasingly less important fact that she is a woman?
ReplyDeleteThere definitely is, I mentioned her involvement with the Iraq war as a strength but it could also be viewed as a weakness. You are right that her gender is becoming an increasingly less important factor, but unfortunately women are still not treated the same as men or paid equally, and because our society is still like that her gender could be viewed as a weakness.
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