Susan Rice, the former national security adviser for President Barack Obama, may have never held elective office, but she's a serious contender for consideration as Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, Politico reports.
Biden has vowed to pick a woman as his running mate, and amid recent racial tensions in the country, speculation has risen that a minority candidate would get even better traction.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., has been seen as a frontrunner in that regard and already has been under the press' microscope during her own presidential primary run. She famously squared off with Biden during a debate over his past stance on school busing.
Either Rice or Harris would be the first black woman on a major party ticket.
Those close to Rice say she has not put herself forward for the vice-presidential position, but would be proud to serve if asked, Politico reported.
"One of the things she's most passionate about is public service," said her longtime friend and colleague Gayle Smith, who led the U.S. Agency for International Development under Obama.
Rice has some baggage sure to be pointed out by Republicans. She had a role in the failed Benghazi response that left four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, dead.
She also was implicated in the unmasking of Americans in intelligence reports during the presidential transition. Some of those Americans turned out to be Trump associates. Rice has denied any wrongdoing.
Another wrinkle which is more likely to rankle Democrats: Rice has a conservative Republican son, Jake, who led the College Republicans at Stanford and reportedly pushed "Make Stanford Great Again."
She wrote in her autobiography, she gets along well with Jake, but added, "it can be deeply painful to love someone so powerfully with whom I disagree so profoundly."
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