Is Condoleezza All Front?

[SoDesuKa]

Condoleezza Rice has been in the middle of things when the Bush administration made a number of colossal mistakes. She famously didn't connect the dots before September 11th, and her track record on foreign policy strategy actually declined after that. It seems reasonable to ask whether there's anything behind the Condoleezza front. Granted, she's exceedingly skilled at bureaucratic in-fighting - if you get it her way, she'll kill you. But ... is that all she's got?

She has an earned Ph.D. from the University of Denver. She attained some academic rank at Stanford. Her rise in government was meteoric ... one promotion after another, until she was named Secretary of State. There seems to be a contradiction here. If she's all that brilliant, how come her performance has been so dismal?

Is she all front? It's a fair question, because she has a shot at being named McCain's running mate. It's an unpleasant thought, but she could end up as president.