Reply #7: I liked them both better when they were in the WH.

[Firespirit]

I have very mixed feelings now about them both, and I'll try to explain it and remain coherent.

Bill--OK, he's a centrist DLC type, but that is NOT why he won--it's because in 1992 he was so charismatic, and Perot was running (although I understand that some of his votes would have gone to Clinton if he hadn't been on the ticket; he didn't totally take from Bush); and in 1996 the GOP nominated the most boring candidate in the world.

Other than the obvious instances that we all know of, I think that as president he was more or less genuine in that he was not pandering to the middle; he truly was in the middle. I also think that he understood America's problems and did his best to rectify them.

I am not sure that that's the case anymore. It seems that he's become... I don't know, disconnected somehow. I don't know that he cares that much anymore. Take the other Dem ex-president, for instance... Carter cares, and it's obvious. He does things for the betterment of humanity, and I'm afraid that Clinton is doing things for the betterment of Bill Clinton. Please don't flame--this is just my opinion.

Hillary--I have always admired her as a strong independent woman who had ambitions and thumbed her nose at conventionality to achieve them. I do NOT approve of everything she's done as a Senator, but I admire her as a role model for women.

That said, I don't want her to be the next nominee--or even to RUN--and that isn't just for the obvious reason that I have another preference. Even in the (IMO) unlikely event that Kerry decides not to run, I will not vote for her in the primary. I do not think she can win, and even if she did, I don't think she'd be a good president. I'm getting the vibe that she's somewhat of a panderer. I would love to be wrong about this, BTW. Of course there's a limit to how far to the right she'd go, but other than that, I am just not too sure of many of her convictions. Generally I have a feel for whether a Democratic politician is more liberal or more of a centrist, but with her I am really not sure.