Black conservatives seek to draft Condoleezza Rice for Senate race

The Black Conservatives Fund wants to draft former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for a Senate bid in 2016, as they argue she represents the GOP’s best chance to win a Senate seat in deep-blue California.

The group sent out a fundraising email to supporters Tuesday morning asking for donations to encourage the former diplomat, who now teaches at Stanford University, to run for the open seat.

{mosads}Rice has repeatedly said she won’t run, but the latest Field Poll on the race showed she’d be a formidable candidate if she changes her mind. It found her with 49 percent of the vote, compared to 46 percent for Attorney General Kamala Harris, the Democrat now seen as the race’s front-runner. 

“Condi is a true American success story. Her father was a minister. She’s an accomplished pianist, diplomat, and a role model for millions,” the Black Conservatives Fund says in its fundraising email.

“But the best news of all is that if she runs, she can steal California’s U.S. Senate seat from the Democrats. 

The Black Conservatives Fund’s email warns that “Obama Democrats” would call her an “Uncle Tom” if she enters the race. The slur stems from a pre-Civil War book where a black character chooses to be complicit with slavery.

In January, Rice’s chief of staff told The Hill that running for the Senate is “not even a consideration.”

Georgia Godfrey, Rice’s chief of staff, told The Hill via email: “She’s happy here at Stanford!” 

Rice’s staff repeated that assertion to various media outlets after the Field Poll results.

But the group has lofty hopes for the impact of a Rice bid, asserting that she “might even put California in play for a GOP presidential candidate.”