WASHINGTON - UNITED States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says repeatedly she does not 'do politics' but her name keeps popping up as a potential running mate for Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate.

Dr Rice's spokesman tried yet again on Monday to quash reports that Dr Rice wants the No. 2 spot on the Republican ticket but blogs and political websites are still buzzing.

'I don't know how many ways she can say no,' said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack of reports that Dr Rice is actively campaigning to join the Arizona senator's ticket.

On Sunday, Mr Dan Senor, a Republican strategist and former spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority that governed Iraq after the March 2003 US-led invasion, said Dr Rice was courting conservatives for the job.

'Condi Rice has been actively, actually in recent weeks, campaigning for this,' Mr Senor told ABC's This Week programme.

Dr Rice fuelled speculation when she attended a meeting at the end of March with conservatives from an anti-tax lobbying group run by conservative activist Grover Norquist.

Dr Rice's staff forcefully rejected the idea that she attended the Americans for Tax Reform meeting as a way to advertise her interest in the vice presidential job, saying she went to discuss foreign policy.

She reiterated her lack of interest in an interview with The Washington Times last month.

'I don't do politics,' she told the newspaper, repeating that she planned to return to her California home when the Bush administration ends in January 2009.

Dipping into domestic policy
Despite her claims of disinterest, Dr Rice has been dipping more frequently into domestic politics and showing a lighter side, such as sharing her exercising tips with Fitness magazine and doing an interview with Parade magazine.

With the Washington Times, Dr Rice aired her thoughts on education and race in the United States, which has emerged as a prominent issue in the presidential campaign because of Democratic contender Senator Barack Obama.

Mr Obama would be the first black US president if he wins the Democratic nomination and beats Mr McCain in the November election to succeed President George W. Bush.

Dr Rice is the top-ranking African-American and woman in Mr Bush's Cabinet and some political experts see her as a way to balance out the Republican Party ticket, which will face either a black man, if Mr Obama becomes the Democratic nominee, or a woman, if Senator Hillary Clinton of New York prevails.

But Dr Rice's role as one of the principal architects of the Iraq war and its chaotic aftermath weigh against her as Mr McCain's choice and even Dr Rice has conceded it might be better for Mr McCain not to turn to a Bush administration official.

'It's time for new blood,' she told The Washington Times.

When asked by reporters on Sunday whether Dr Rice had been courting him for the vice-presidential slot, Mr McCain was nonchalant. 'I missed those signals,' he said.

While conceding that she held some responsibility for the management of the war, he praised Dr Rice as a 'great American' who served as a role model for millions of people.

'Her overall record is very, very meritorious,' said Mr McCain. -- REUTERS