Rumours about 2008 Clinton v Rice

It is three years and 233 days until the next presidential election in the US, and only 50 days into President George W Bush's second term.

But speculation is already reaching a fever pitch about possible presidential candidates in 2008. The list of possible contenders began almost immediately after Mr Bush won last November.

But this frenzy of political prognostication is being driven by an undeniably intriguing scenario - that pits Senator Hillary Clinton against Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Although Ms Rice has strained to find new ways of saying she is not interested in a bid, the possible presidential match-up has the chattering classes so prematurely worked up that they are having a hard time letting go.

Ms Rice said she planned to return to academic life. Before she became national security adviser during President Bush's first term, she was provost at Stanford University in California.

Or as she recently said at a State Department press conference: "I'm going to try to be a good secretary of state, and then, as I've said many, many times, there's always NFL (National Football League) commissioner." She is a big fan of American football.

Despite of her repeated denials, several websites, blogs and other grassroots still make great efforts to encourage her to run.

Ms Rice received glowing press after her recent European tour. And US conservatives are looking for a candidate to counter their arch-nemesis: Hillary Clinton. She is also the source of endless speculation about her presidential ambitions.

Ms Rice just laughed and said she had no plans to run, but conservatives are determined never to let another Clinton call the White House home.

On the Republican side, Ms Rice comes in third behind former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain.

Most political experts will say that at this early stage, these polls measure name recognition more than accurate levels of political support.

Ask most Americans who they would vote for in 2008, and they are most likely to look at you in bewilderment and ask: "Didn't we just have an election?"

University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato believes all this early presidential speculation is driven largely by journalists in election withdrawal.

（Agencies)