Everyone is focused on who the actual GOP nominee for president will be, but the Washington Times' Joseph Curl has his eye on the vice president slot and has the perfect candidate in mind: America's 56-year-old first black female secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice.

"Her addition to the ticket, which wouldn’t come until late next summer, would dramatically change the dynamics of the 2012 election," writes Curl. He cites her daily workout routine, among other factors; he calls her "rested and ready -- and buff."

Curl also gives us a hint about the way conservatives might spin her race, arguing that she, unlike Barack Obama, is an "American black" (not sure how he came to that conclusion, but during a campaign, who really cares about facts, especially when they have to do with race?).

Here are some of his other reasons:

Her addition to the ticket, which wouldn’t come until late next summer, would dramatically change the dynamics of the 2012 election. As a black woman -- her family has roots in the Deep South stretching back to before Civil War era, and worked as sharecroppers after emancipation -- she would mute Democrats’ charges of racism among conservatives, especially tea party members. And her sex would likely prompt moderate women to take a serious look at the Republican ticket.

Plus, her selection would be a giant chess move to counter the expected replacement of Vice President Joseph R. Biden with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Sure, the White House denies and denies, but that should really make any political watcher more suspicious. One White House insider even told me that the position swap was the only reason Mrs. Clinton joined the administration in the first place ...

Clearly, the 2012 election is shaping up to be all about the U.S. economy. Everything Mr. Obama has tried has failed, so American voters are looking for someone who can actually fix the problems. But what the Republican presidential hopefuls lack is foreign-policy experience.

Cue Miss Rice ...

Read more at the Washington Times.

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