Rice in 2008?

Pejman Yousefzadeh thinks that Condoleezza Rice would make a strong candidate for President in 2008. From all that I've heard this may be true. Her credentials are certainly good, although she isn't a politician. I know that other politicians will make hay of this, but that doesn't disqualify her (and it might give her an edge with parts of the population). However, my evaluation of all candidates eventually comes down to one issue. Those who know me will immediately know what that is. It all comes down to guns. Where a candidate stands on the issue of guns tells a lot about their political philosophy.

While I may not embrace all of his anarcho-capitalist ideas, L. Neil Smith still speaks for me on this topic. This is from a short essay of his entitled, "Why Did it Have to be ... Guns?":

Over the past 30 years, I've been paid to write almost two million words, every one of which, sooner or later, came back to the issue of guns and gun-ownership. Naturally, I've thought about the issue a lot, and it has always determined the way I vote.

People accuse me of being a single-issue writer, a single- issue thinker, and a single- issue voter, but it isn't true. What I've chosen, in a world where there's never enough time and energy, is to focus on the one political issue which most clearly and unmistakably demonstrates what any politician -- or political philosophy -- is made of, right down to the creamy liquid center.

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

So, call me a single-issue voter if you will. I don't mind. But there's a lot more to it, as noted above.

Posted by Aubrey at February 9, 2003 06:10 PM