Condi tipped as McCain running mate

Is Condoleezza Rice hoping to be picked as Senator John McCain's running-mate for the White House? The rumour began on Sunday when a Republican strategist, Dan Senor, set tongues wagging by telling a TV interviewer that the Secretary of State was "actively campaigning" to be chosen as the Republican vice-presidential candidate.

As a result the rumour mill has been in overdrive, with fans of Condi explaining how, as the country's most prominent black politician, she could help offset the appeal of Barack Obama, and, as a woman, put a dent in Hillary Clinton's credentials.

On the other hand there are the negatives - such as having worked for eight years for an increasingly unpopular president - and it seems these are what have caught McCain's attention. When asked about Condi's "active campaigning", he responded: "I missed those signals".

Sean McCormack, Rice's spokesman at the State Department, asked whether his boss was seeking the vice-presidency, said on Monday: "If she is, she's the last one to know about it." He suggested that she was planning to return to Stanford University in California once the Bush era comes to an end.