FIRST SIGNS?:

Rice 'the rock star' steals hearts in America with jetset diplomacy (ALEX MASSIE, 2/13/05, The Scotsman)

AS AIR Force Two made its way across the Atlantic, its most important passenger took time off from her briefing papers and made her way to the back of the plane where 19 journalists were seated in the aircraft’s cramped economy-class seats. Condoleezza Rice had a present for each of them.

Explaining that "we’re going to travel a lot and I wouldn't want anyone to feel lost", she presented the assembled press pack with pocket world atlases, each signed by the new Secretary of State.

It was a thoughtful touch that impressed the travelling press corps and underlined the fact that the State Department is most definitely under new management.

In her first tour abroad since taking on the job, Rice has brought such dynamism to American foreign policy that the first signs of a campaign to persuade her to run for the White House has begun, setting up the tantalising prospect of a head to head with Hillary Clinton in 2008.