There are a lot of Cuban Americans at the hospital where he works. At the end of the 2004 campaign there was no obvious heir apparent to Bush. The notion of Condoleezza Rice generated a very postive response, according to Mason. He came up with the notion Viva Condi and thought it might end up being the Miami branch of a Rice 2008 organization. Doing some research he found there was already a Rice 2008 website, but it seemed static and commercial. Mason determined to do a better one. The site, www.condi4prez.com (later changed to AmericansForRice.com along with the change to 527 status), went live on the Internet on Nov. 14, 2004, which turned out to be Rice's birthday.
An appearance on Hannity and Colmes on Dec. 9 "kind of put us on the map," said Mason. Since then, he said, the endeavor has become "almost a second full time job." On Feb. 9, 2005 AmericansforRice.com reported, "We are on the ground in New Hampshire" in the person of acting state chairperson Shari Demers. AmericansforRice also put resources into the key early state of Iowa, making a buy of somewhat less than $2,000 to run about fifty 15-second radio spots on WHO in Des Moines over a period of a week starting on Feb. 18. The CPAC conference provided a further boost as Mason and North Dakotan Crystal Dueker distributed hundreds of buttons and bumperstickers and garnered free media exposure.
