Time Magazine on Hillary Clinton

Time Magazine has a story for subscribers on Hillary Clinton and her probable run for president. Here's another Time article on Hillary's place in the polls:

Most Americans agree that Hillary Clinton is intelligent (81%) and that she's politically moderate (67%). She's the Democratic nominee they'd support the most if she runs for President (leading the field with 46%, just ahead of Al Gore's 41). And a majority (53%) agree that she makes a generally favorable impression. They don't agree on much else.

Hillary Clinton would make a fine president but there are twelve other Democrats thinking of running and once their campaigns get running we will probably see changes in the polls. We're now in the midterm elections and the time to get serious about Democrats running for president will be well under way by the middle of November. There's a question Democrats need to ask about Hillary before the Republicans do; it's simply a question about the role of Bill Clinton in a Hillary Clinton presidency. Time has some interesting numbers on the situation:

No matter what their political affiliation, most Americans — 67% — think Bill should play some role in Hillary's campaign. And, really, who would turn down Bill Clinton's campaign advice? But should she win, only 18% think he should play a major role in her administration, with 42% seeing no role at all; even Democrats come down mostly on the side of a minor role (43% ) for the popular former President, with fully 32% wanting him to step aside entirely. Not surprisingly, 61% of Republicans, faced with the prospect of a another Clinton administration, want at least one of those Clintons to step aside.

I'm not convinced anyone has really thought any of this through, including Hillary. I also wish the Democrats had the advantage of getting advice from a former president rather than advice from the husband of a potential candidate; the advice of a former president is a lot easier to take seriously in a time of national crisis.