"Summertime and Condoleezza for President?"

Presidential?  Former Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice

After a relatively quiet Spring, things are heating up in Washington even though it's not officially summer yet. As we move toward the 2014 mid-term elections in November, and Republicans aim to take control of the Senate, we can be assured there will be no shortage of accusations, investigations, resignations, and recriminations. And of course, the GOP-controlled House will vote to repeal Obamacare a few more times. Also in their sights: inflicting political damage on presumed Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

In the meantime, our conservative-leaning ACTIVIST Supreme Court will be issuing some major rulings by the end of this month. Think Progress summarizes here with a list of the expected rulings and their repercussions in the article:
Seven Big Cases The Supreme Court Will Decide In June That Could Change America

One of the major civil rights issues we are facing -- Voter I.D. laws, are not going away, especially in swing and southern states with large numbers of minority and young voters. Voting rights will remain an issue as America's demographics shift toward youth and people of color. Maybe the GOP will come up with a successful outreach effort to reach these groups, but it doesn't appear to be the case now. Where are we with Immigration Reform?

There is a high likelihood that there will be a Hispanic on the ticket for the 2016 Presidential race.  (Don't you wish Justice Sotomayor could run??) Probably Julian Castro will get the call from Clinton (or whoever is the Democratic front-runner for President). Castro, the Mayor of San Antonio has recently been nominated to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.  This will give him more national experience and visibility. He had a high profile at the last Democratic National Convention in 2012 -- becoming the first Hispanic to give the keynote address to the body. Here is his inspirational 'the American dream lives' speech. (As I recall, at the end his young daughter stole the show.)

An interesting prospect is -- Will the GOP put Condoleezza Rice on the ticket? She is a darling on the right and might even get Southern Conservatives on board (because they will be in an "anybody but Clinton" mode).

African-American women are a key and consistent voting-bloc within the Democratic Party, and at the heart of many campaign volunteer efforts across the country. (However, I would wager that few of the campaign expenditure funds -- and we're talking multi-millions here that are spent on workers, consultants, lawyers, media, etc., make their way to black women or black men!).

But back to Condeleezza Rice on the GOP 2016 Presidential ticket -- her policies are not in step with the majority of black women, although she would most certainly move to the center after the primaries. Nevertheless, I expect if Clinton runs she will get the African-American vote. Her spouse will make sure of that. Remember his DNC 2012 speech in support of candidate Obama - masterful - here it is again:

I can still remember sitting on the Convention floor amazed and getting a text from my son, who I didn't expect to be watching at his college, saying, "Mom...he is killing it." And, he did. Bill Clinton, more so than any other speaker summed up the reasons to vote for Obama. And then he got out on the campaign trail and campaigned for the President. His appeal remains massive in minority communities.

Still, it is intriguing to ponder -- inside the voting booth, when faced with an African-American woman choice for President, or Vice-President, will black women (some of whom might be considered conservative to moderate) vote for Condoleezza Rice? If so....would the numbers be enough to push the GOP over the top and back into the White House?

Oh..the machinations of summer!