Armitage recently told national security adviser Condoleezza Rice that he and Powell will leave on Jan. 21, 2005, the day after the next presidential inauguration, sources familiar with the conversation said. Powell has indicated to associates that a commitment made to his wife, rather than any dismay at the administration’s foreign policy, is a key factor in his desire to limit his tenure to one presidential term.
Uh huh.
Rice and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz are the leading candidates to replace Powell, according to sources inside and outside the administration. Rice appears to have an edge because of her closeness to the president, though it is unclear whether she would be interested in running the State Department’s vast bureaucracy.
Why not? Think of how many underlings she’d have to blame the next time she gets caught lying through that cute little gap in her teeth…
Afterthought: it seems like only last week that Condi appeared to be on her way out the door. Because, well, it was only last week. Now it looks as though she may fail upward…