'It's absolutely serious': Susan Rice vaults to the top of the VP heap

Don't count Susan Rice out of the vice-presidential contest.

At first glance, it might be easy to dismiss the former national security adviser's chances of joining Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket. Rice has never run for elected office. She doesn't bring along the loyalties of a swing state. Her work experience revolves largely around foreign affairs, which could seem redundant given Biden's experience in those issues. Her son is a proud and active Republican, while the GOP has for years used her as a punching bag over the Benghazi tragedy - the main reason many Americans have ever even heard her name.

But more than a dozen of Rice's friends and former colleagues recently interviewed by POLITICO dismiss those concerns. They argued that Rice is no stranger to the campaign trail, even if she wasn't the candidate, and besides, amid the coronavirus pandemic, what campaign trail is there?