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Drudge still rules their world.

So the news for Romney of late has not been so good. At minimum, he's been exposed as a liar and the Republican Party has been exposed as incompetent vetters; at worst, he's committed a felony and may be subjected to a SEC investigation.

So what's the Etch-a-sketch candidate to do to distract the media with a shiny object?

Leak a non-story to Drudge, of course. And a more pathetic attempt you will never see.

Late Thursday evening, Mitt Romney's presidential campaign launched a new fundraising drive, 'Meet The VP' -- just as Romney himself has narrowed the field of candidates to a handful, sources reveal.

And a surprise name is now near the top of the list: Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice!

The timing of the announcement is now set for 'coming weeks'.

The timing was actually announced as "some time between now and the Republican convention", which is when, typically, VP choices are announced. So it's breaking news that a Veep choice will be made in the next six weeks? Seriously?

As to the hinted selection of former Bush Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, well, that's all Bill Kristol, doncha know, who is the brain trust behind the selection of Sarah Palin as well. And as we have documented very well over the years, Kristol is *always* wrong. (As an aside to Drudge, blogger to blogger: if you think this is important and good news to push, why do you use a picture of Rice that looks grim and almost like a mug-shot? Old habits die hard?) But it's not helping the Romney campaign push this meme when the subject herself rejects it totally. And that doesn't begin to take into account the larger party's reaction:

This has all the makings of a classic, time-worn political ploy. The candidate openly flirts with several supposed veep contenders, each of whom fits a demographic that the candidate needs to woo. Midwesterners? Hispanics? Southerners? And now, in a week when Romney’s in trouble with the NAACP, the Condi rumors resurface.

It’s too cute by half, though.

Floating Condi has now roused the pro-life wing to action. Instead of Romney getting plusses for considering a black woman, the story could soon turn to how conservatives are beating up on a black woman. That’s not the best way to do damage control after being booed at the NAACP convention.

Rice is too smart to play this political game. A loyal Republican, she has said that she will help the GOP ticket with fundraising. But she says that’s as far as she goes.

After all, Rice is a cool, calm woman who has tackled conniving, evil international dictators. She chooses her words carefully. In 2008, she knew her remarks would never pass GOP muster during a vice presidential vetting process. In that way, she has solidly guaranteed that she will never be asked to be on a Republican ticket – not as long as abortion is a central issue.

That's right! Condoleezza Rice is pro-choice. Yeah, that's not going to play well with the extremists that now control the Republican Party. In fact, Tea Party Nation could hardly contain their disgust:

Is the Romney plan to try and lose?

The social conservatives will not come out for her, like they did for Palin, because Rice is pro-abortion. Social conservatives don’t really believe Romney when he claims he is pro-life, but to add a pro-abortion VP would really sink him with the social conservatives.

Rice is a consigliore of the Bush family. She worked for both of the Bushes. She is associated very closely with the Iraq war, which in case anyone has forgotten is one of the main reasons why the Republicans lost the House and Senate in 2006.

We do not need anyone else named Bush leading the Republican Party and we don’t need one of the Bush team players as a part of the future of the GOP.

Condi Rice is a RINO establishment Republican. She is as clueless about the middle class as Romney is.

Wow. Let's just chalk this up to yet another inept and transparently pandering move by the Romney campaign.