‘Commander’ not McMorris’ reality

Two days after being listed as a White House “prospect” by USA Today, Rep. Cathy McMorris hasn’t heard from John McCain, Bill Frist or any other GOP presidential hopeful about a spot on the 2008 ticket.

The only person who called was her mother, McMorris said, and “she was a little surprised.”

So was the freshman congresswoman from Eastern Washington, named Tuesday in the national newspaper’s box of eight women officeholders who “could be prospects for national office down the road.”

“It’s flattering that they would think of me, but it’s not anything I’ve ever considered,” she said after a press conference in Spokane to discuss the new Medicare prescription drug benefits. In truth, McMorris looked more embarrassed than flattered.

The list wasn’t in a national campaign story or a political column. It accompanied a story Tuesday on a new television show, “Commander in Chief,” in which a woman vice president, played by Geena Davis, moves up when the president dies.

The story talked about whether the country might be as ready for a woman president as Hollywood apparently is, and the general conclusion was, yes. In a recent Gallup Poll, 86 percent of those surveyed said they would vote for a qualified woman for president, USA Today noted, and both Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice have been mentioned as possible candidates in the near future.

McMorris was listed in a box headlined “Scouting report: Beyond Hillary and Condi.” She said the newspaper didn’t call her, and she’s not sure who they did call that named her as a prospect.

She’s hasn’t even seen the show. “I did see (Geena Davis) on Leno recently.”