Condoleezza Rice in '08?

Hmm. The stars seem to be aligning for current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to run for President in 2008 on the Republican Party ticket. Were she to win the nomination, she would be the first woman and first minority ever to win a major party's nomination.

Why do I say the stars are aligning? Well, Condy kicks some butt in the latest poll coming out of Iowa. 30.3% of likely Republican voters, compared to Senator John McCain and former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani who both got roughly 16%. Even more telling is that she received a whopping 94.5% name recognition already at this stage of the process, and a 79% favorable opinion.

This isn't the only reason. The Republican Party has been seen making a concerted effort to recruit the African American vote.

Distancing the party from its recent past and promising a more inclusive future has become a ritual for Mehlman since he became chairman of the GOP in January. It is part of an audacious bid to chip away at the Democratic Party's most loyal constituency: black voters.

The goal is to broaden the base of the Republican Party and forge a new GOP majority that can win elections well into the future. Even a relatively small shift in black voting patterns could boost Republicans and cripple Democrats for years, strategists on both sides say.

Granted, this could just be a party plan to correct the mistakes of the past, or just to improve their image among afican american voters generally- since nearly nine out of 10 blacks voted for Democratic presidential candidates over the past four decades.

However, it could be the setting of a foundation, anticipating the momentum that could be created for the party were Rice on the Republican Party ticket as either the candidate for President or Vice President. The momentum would be something the party love to capitalize on, and hopefully shift the dominance of the African American vote back to the party of Lincoln.