The Republican Super-Ticket: McCain/Rice

I wrote recently that Democrats should have no problem retaking the White House come November, despite the protracted, occasionally nasty battle currently raging between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Perhaps I spoke too soon: a recent poll conducted by Marist College and WNBC reveals that a Republican ticket of John McCain and Condoleezza Rice would win New York, even against a Democratic ticket consisting of Clinton and Obama. This is shocking, since Kerry won New York by 20 points in 2004 and Gore won it by an even greater margin (25 points) in 2000.

If the poll is true, Democrats should be seriously concerned. Although the poll only canvassed New York voters, the fact that McCain and Rice would be so competitive in a dyed in the wool Blue State is incredible. CNN’s take on the poll suggests that Rice, being both black and a woman, would trump whatever historic candidacy the Democrats will present to the American public in the Fall. Apparently, a black female Vice President is better than either a black or a female President.