Secretary Rice: A "mildly pro-choice" Republican; does no rule out 2008 run

In a Washington Times interview [full transcript here; Times article here], Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice did not rule out a run for the presidency in 2008.

Of the 7,800 word exchange only 1,000 were dedicated to topics other than foreign policy, the 2008 election and abortion specifically.

When asked if she was ruling out a run in 2008 Rice responded, "Oh, that's not fair, but ... I really can't imagine it."

And then the topic turned to abortion:

I believe if you go back to 2000, when I helped the president in the campaign, I said that I was, in effect, kind of Libertarian on this issue, and meaning by that that I have been concerned about a government role in this issue. I'm a strong proponent of parental choice, of parental notification. I'm a strong proponent of a ban on late-term abortion. These are all things that I think unite people and I think that that's where we should be. I've called myself at times mildly pro-choice ...

... I'm very comfortable with the president's view that we have to respect and need to have a culture that respects life. This should be an issue pretty infrequently because we ought to have a culture that says that, "Who wants to have an abortion? Who wants to see a daughter or a friend or, you know, a sibling go through something like that?" And so I believe the president has been in exactly the right place about this, which is, we have to respect the culture of life and we have to try and bring people to have respect for it and make this as rare a circumstance as possible.

And on issues of faith Rice also echoes President Bush:

... my faith is a part of everything that I do. You know, it's integral to who I am and it's not something that I can set outside of anything that I do because it's so integral to who I am. And prayer is very important to me and a belief that if you ask for it, you will be guided.

Would Republicans nominate a "mildly pro-choice" Republican, even one of faith?

Ironically, Rice's rhetoric on abortion here is almost identical to the dramatic shift made by Hillary earlier this year.

It's the age-old political balancing act:

Hillary is trying to soften her views on abortion to look more electable and have appeal to moderate Republicans and Independents after she's captured the D-Nomination. But she can't go too soft if she wants the nomination.

By contrast, if Rice was to run for the White House, would she need to harden her views to capture the R-Nomination? And how would that play out against Hillary in the General Election?

Is it conceivable that Hillary and Rice could sound virtually identical on the most contentious issue in politics? (Of course, that's if anyone really beleives Hillary's obvious pandering)

Another unanswered question: Is Rice capable of adjusting her deeply held political views to win an election? She's never had to do it before ... only time will tell.