It would perhaps seem logical on the surface to some.  With Democrats on the verge of making history with either an African American or a female nominee,  Secretary of State Condoleeza  Rice would certainly compliment the McCain candidacy.

BUT! Senior McCain insiders say she has not until this point been under any serious consideration. That is not to say that she might not be soon.

It was reported recently that Rice attended  “The Wednesday Meeting” recently.  Lots of people go, its pretty much open to all.  It’s a regular weekly meeting held at conservative activist Grover Nordquist’s L Street offices in D.C.  Nordquist is head of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) but he dabbles in all sorts of conservative politics.

Rice’s appearance at a recent meeting according to several sources was NOT about auditioning for McCain’s Veep.  BUT she sure is an intriguing prospect.  Would she make it hard for McCain to fight the democratic charges that he’s running for a  third Bush term?

Barack Obama has raised 95 million dollars in the last 2 mos…McCain’s response? Get ready to accept public financing for the general and blast any democrat that doesn’t do the same as a hypocrit. Remember: Obama and McCain had the political equivalent of a handshake deal last year on this.

The MAC Camp has sent letters to thousands of donors and intends to RETURN about 3 million dollars in contributions made for the general election. The campaign is asking donors to SEND THE BUCKS BACK to McCain’s GLAC fund …a cool insider acronym for the legal and accounting expenses coffer which is actually tallied separately by the FEC.

The problem of course is that the general election matching fund, which is awarded to each candidate after their convention, is likely to be about 75-85 million dollars. The Dems convene in Denver 8/25-8/28. The GOP gather in St. Paul on 9/1. 85 million for each candidate to campaign the remaining two months to election day would seem plenty…but if you could bank twice that in advance would you disarm voluntarily?

Obama has a choice. McCain is preparing as though he does not.

Sorry for the brief  hiatus…Camerons Corner is back in full swing

Until he clinches the nomination John McCain’s campaign can’t formally discuss co-opting the Republican National Committee into his general election plan

Look for that to change tonight and the party takeover to begin immediately.

If McCain goes over the top the campaign will move as soon as tomorrow to refocus the RNC on McCain’s candidacy. There is no shortage of emphasis on, or rather against, the democrats – the GOP national party has mountains of opposition research at the ready. The BIGGER task is getting the RNC synched up with McCain.

Unifying conservatives and the GOP is different from taking over the administration of the party apparatus.

The McCain camp will want his people in key positions. The McCainiacs will want to tailor and manage the party message to fit and compliment the candidate’s style and substance.

That is step one. Its starts Wednesday, assuming McCain clinches Tuesday with Oh, TX, VT and RI.

Any talk of McCain making an early VP pick is wrong. While the senator and insiders are happy to discuss prospects and ruminate aloud, all that has been done is to have one aide research the selection process other candidates have used. Nothing more.

They have not even begun seriously considering who will head the search team. They have not begun compiling the long and short lists. They have not discussed who will run the vetting process.

They have months to think it through and will unveil the selection only at the most opportune time possible.

The running mate is a major ace in the hole for presidential candidates and they never want to play them too soon.

The truth is he may be able to come in second in several southern and conservative states including Ga., Al., Mo., Ok, and his home state of Arkansas. He could even squeak out wins if things go right. Every vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain, or at least that is what Mitt Romney himself has said.

Do not forget!! Out of the 15 primaries, 5 caucuses and 1 GOP convention that takes place 2/5 –10 are winner take all but in 11 contests delegates are awarded proportionately to the top three. Mitt and Huck will have some delegates even if they win no states.

Romney surrogates have been blasting Huckabee in many of those states and others. Publicly Romney is focused on McCain but in several conservative states where Huckabee is popular the Romney camp is attacking Huckabee too.

Huckabee was asked if a poor Super Tuesday showing might end his candidacy today and said not only does he not want to quit he can’t! His explanation is that

“it’s not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog”

and he’s got plenty left. Furthermore Huckaboomers want him to stay in and Huck himself believes that if republicans don’t pick him they should pick McCain and not Romney

Huckabee’s attacks on Romney have many speculating that the former Ark Gov is auditioning for the McCain veep spot.

Die hard supporters are still there, most others are gone. If Florida’s winner will be the nominee, as Rudy Giuliani has said for months, what does he do if he loses?

There are plans to attend the GOP debate at the Reagan Library Wednesday.

Some campaign aides privately gripe about what might have been. There are those who believed Rudy could have competed and won New Hampshire.

One insider/operative railed that Rudy did not have enough people with experience running national presidential campaigns.

Republicans attending rallies in Florida for Rudy for the last ten days have routinely spilled into the parking lots afterward complaining that the Mayor’s decision not to compete “up north” took him out of the news and perhaps out of serious contention.

Without the kind of money that only a win can bring, the Giuliani campaign is at a big super tuesday disadvantage. John McCain leads polls in most of the states Rudy was counting on easily winning.

Senior advisers and campaign officials routinely boasted about all the states Rudy would win after taking the first winner take all state in the ‘08.

He said Monday he lives his life expecting miracles. There were none for Americas Mayor in Florida today. Now comes the question of what he’ll do next. Staff, advisers, friends, have thought and even whispered about it in recent days. There have been some serious conversations at very high levels.

Some insiders say he should drop out quickly, make his Sunshine state concession, his national one.

Others say attend the L-A debate. Go out on a high note. Stay in through Super Tuesday to say you gave it your all, live each day expecting miracles.

McCain’s so delighted by the attention he got from the democrats in the recent debate that he is now pushing an inevitability message.   The idea is to imprint the perception that he is already a foregone conclusion and hope republicans jump on the bandwagon.  Here’s the web ad.

Back in March of 07 at the CPAC convention in DC several former Fred Thompson Congressional staffers told me Fred Thompson was thinking about a run. Some of his Tennessee cronies had been talking him up too.

I reported first that he was eyeing a White House bid. At the time several insiders told me OFF THE RECORD that it was largely a trial ballon to guage his popularity and float his name as a possible vice presidential nominee. I was sworn to silence.

Those insiders have now lifted the conditions on our conversations. From March to August of 07 through postponed announcement days, staff changes, firings, resignations and general disarray the Thompson camp was stunned by the incredibly positive response and didn’t really know how to manage it. The trial balloon soared mighty high and he found himself being dragged into a race that he was not even sure how to run.

He took third in Iowa and Third in South Carolina, after which his aides openly suggested the #2 slot on the ticket. The circle has been closed, and Fred Dalton Thompson is waiting to see if he gets the call from the eventual nominee.

He has not said who he will endorse. He is friends with John McCain. But if he doesn’t throw his support behind anyone …it makes it easier to be picked by everyone.

TEN DAYS IS A LONG TIME.

In fact there have not been ten uninterrupted campaign days in this entire campaign. The ten days before Iowa included Christmas and New Years.

Since August John McCain has been the come-from-behind-underdog. For the first time in the race he is going to get the full front-runner treatment: intense scrutiny and relentless criticism from his rivals.

Huckabee’s gracious praise for McCain in tonight’s concession speech smacked of a short list audition. He promised to remain in the nominating “process” for a long time, and said he still believes it will end “in the White House.” But there were moments when he spoke about his campaign in the past tense, and he didn’t say in what capacity he believed he would end up in Casa Blanca.

(more…)

He will make his departure from the race official tonight.