Cultivated Rice

Crystal Dueker vividly recalls the moment she was bitten by the Condi bug. "I was at the Republican convention in New York, where I was one of the alternates," the 50-year-old office manager recounts in her made-to-charm North Dakota accent. "We were probably a hundred feet away from Father Bush's box, where Barbara and the daughters were sitting. And, when I saw Condoleezza Rice walk in and exchange pleasantries and start hugging everybody, I thought, `Oh my gosh, I think I'm looking at the next president of the United States.'"A couple months later, a Miami physician, Richard Mason, experienced a similar epiphany. "It was after the 2004 election, and we were kind of having a break-room chat in the hospital where I work," he explains. "Nobody could really come up with a good 2008 candidate. Then somebody said, `What about Condi Rice?'" For the bubbly, 45-year-old father of two kids (and three cats), "it was really just one of those `Wow-I-coulda-had-a-V8!' moments." Today, separated by more than 1,500 miles, Dueker and Mason are ringleaders of Americans for Dr. Rice, a taxexempt, Federal Election Commission-registered 527 with the mission of "drafting Dr. Rice for President." Since the beginning of this year, the group has been setting up information booths at Republican events around the country, courting the political press, and, most recently, running Condi-for-president radio and TV spots in key states. Energizing their crusade, say group members, is their candidate's "universally" appealing blend of smarts, resume, character, and demeanor. ("She's everything I would look for in a president," gushes Shari Demers, the New Hampshire chairperson of Americans for Dr. Rice.) But a Condi candidacy offers a broader, ulterior thrill as well: the prospect of thwarting Democrats' monopoly on the Is-America- ready-for-a-woman-president buzz currently being driven by Hillary Clinton. While Dueker and Mason take pains to avoid the suggestion that Rice's gender is a significant part of her appeal, many fans have no qualms about touting the benefits of their heroine's race and sex. "Draft Condi" websites are awash in anti-Hillary--"Condi not the Blondie"--postings. The political press is positively drooling over the possibility of an all-girls' battle for the White House (a concept Clinton adviser-turned-antagonist Dick Morris is merrily hawking in his new book, Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race). But, to true Condi lovers, the secretary of state's candidacy has the potential to meaningfully alter the political landscape. For too long, Republicans have been "pigeonholed" as a bunch of sexist, racist, mean-spirited old white guys, says Demers. "This is a chance for us to prove that we all feel the same way [as Democrats] when it comes to women." First, however, Demers and Co. must prove they can shepherd the Condi craze into the realm of serious political action. "There are over 20 websites for Condi expressing their support," Dueker emphasizes. "[B]ut we are the only organized group authorized by the FEC to gather donations and promote our vision with radio ads and TV." Mason puts it more succinctly: "We're not the bobble head people," he assures me, referring to pro-Condi sites selling kitschy dolls in the secretary's image. "I don't think we've done anything that would embarrass Dr. Rice. We don't sell bobble heads and Condi thongs." Even so, Americans for Dr. Rice isn't exactly a buttoned-down political operation. Headquartered in Mason's South Florida home, the group lacks big- money backers, seasoned political staff, and a candidate with either campaign experience or any apparent interest in running. (In an October 16 appearance on "Meet the Press," Rice, for the second time, swore to Tim Russert that she has no interest in being on the ticket in 2008.) What it does have is the passion- fueled, slightly wacky vibe of a campus movement--or possibly a Central American revolution. Americans for Dr. Rice enthusiasts call themselves "Condistas." Running across the top of AmericansforRice.com, the organization's website, is the exclamation viva condi! And the group's adopted anthem, a pop tune titled "Condoleezza Will Lead Us" (by the obscure New York-based duo Tan Sleeve), has a cult-of-personality flavor that would have made Eva Peron envious: "Condoleezza will lead us, brothers, into a brave new world...." Americans for Dr. Rice has its sights on putting Rice's name on the ballot in enough states for her to emerge as a viable contender at the 2008 convention. Last month, it spent $4,000 to run a pro-Condi TV spot in New Hampshire during the series premiere of "Commander in Chief" (the new ABC drama starring Geena Davis as the first woman president--which some Republicans suspect is a Hollywood ploy to lay the groundwork for a Hillary run); this month, they placed "major ad buys" in Des Moines in the run-up to the Iowa GOP's fifth annual Ronald Reagan Dinner. Dueker has been crisscrossing the country on her own dollar establishing local "Condi Clubs," while Demers spent time this summer putting together a Condi float for a parade in her hometown of Chichester, New Hampshire. Meanwhile, her son, Barrett, an undergrad at The George Washington University, has been trying to get press credentials to serve as Americans for Dr. Rice's official correspondent at the State Department. "I can't wait to see him in the back asking questions," says his proud mom. To give their mission a sense of political precedent (or at least feasibility), Team Condi compares itself to the Republicans who drafted Dwight Eisenhower for the 1952 election--though they admit they currently lack two key elements of that movement: money and prominent politicos championing their cause. But in time, they insist, all that will change. Already, Condistas point to the pledge of support for Condi from Steve Sviggum, the Republican speaker of the House in Minnesota, as well as the backing of Richard Valdes, a "Hispanic GOP leader and NJ District 33 Assemblyman nominee." As for money, Mason estimates that, so far, donations have been in the neighborhood of $20,000, largely through the sale of shirts, bumper stickers, and other "Condi gear" over the Web. "But, if this draft idea is really going to make it, we've got to raise serious bucks," he acknowledges. To this end, Americans for Dr. Rice hosted a reception at the 2005 convention of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies in September. Unfortunately, selling a reputedly moderate, openly pro-choice Republican at a conference whose attendees perch proudly on the right wing of the GOP proved something of a challenge. By Dueker's estimate, the group took in a mere $400. No matter. Dueker and her compatriots remain undaunted. They succeeded in "attracting some of the people there to come look at our items and listen to our platform," she says. "And I don't think anybody made a derogatory comment or racial comment. I was really pleased in that respect." Besides, even if the base disagrees with Rice on a couple of issues, she remains the Republicans' best hope for defeating Hillary Clinton, the Condistas insist. "This gives people a real alternative," says Frank DiSalle of New Rochelle, New York, whose condipundit.com informally coordinates with Americans for Dr. Rice. "Maybe someone says, `Well, if I have to vote for a woman, I'd really prefer it wasn't a liberal woman with a feminist agenda'"--a sentiment DiSalle himself ardently shares. "Now," he says with satisfaction, "they'll have Condoleezza Rice to vote for." With so much at stake, the Condistas see it as their civic duty to help Americans (including Rice herself) recognize the rightness of a Condi run by tirelessly touting their candidate's charms, fielding questions about her policy positions (an explanatory booklet is now available) and, of course, shooting down any suggestion that Republicans aren't ready to embrace a female nominee. Ironically, before the debut of "Commander in Chief," Americans for Dr. Rice took aim at the show in a Web posting, taking it to task for depicting the first female president as an Independent. "ABC couldn't imagine giving even fictional credit to the Republican Party for having the first female President. But that's OK, because we all know that Dr. Rice will be the first real female President after the election in 2008." Until then, the important thing is to keep plugging away on the three-year plan and trust that the secretary will eventually embrace her destiny. Like the Tan Sleeve song says: "Condoleezza will lead us, sisters, so don't you worry 'bout a thing."