Prospect of candidate Hillary will wake up voters

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By Bill Ferguson KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS

As soon as Al Gore rocked the political world by withdrawing his name from consideration for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, the wild speculation began as to whom would be the new favorite to take his place.

Actually, only a few of us probably gave it any thought whatever, but someone (probably some 40-year-old guy who still lives with his mother) was apparently just eaten up with curiosity and went out and took a poll.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York (actually she's from Illinois by way of Arkansas, but she moved to New York because the people from Arkansas kept making fun of her maiden name) was the runaway favorite of a group of registered Democrats asked to choose their favorite potential 2004 candidate. The former first lady drew a whopping 30 percent of the votes while Sens. Joe Lieberman and John Kerry tied for second with 13 percent each.

Voters were obviously impressed with Clinton's notable achievements as a U.S. senator. And if anyone has any notes on Clinton's senatorial achievements, please send them along to me because I haven't got a clue as to what she's been doing.

But we really can't blame Hillary for failing to set the world on fire as a senator. Senators are to the government what offensive linemen are to football. Everybody knows they have an important job but it is not very glamorous and they pretty much get ignored unless they do something really stupid.

Now before I comment any further on a potential presidential campaign by Sen. Clinton, I should come clean about my opinion of her. She scares me. I respect her, mind you, because I think she is smart and tough and a tireless worker for the things she believes in.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002

Answers

Remainder

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002

Now before I comment any further on a potential presidential campaign by Sen. Clinton, I should come clean about my opinion of her. She scares me. I respect her, mind you, because I think she is smart and tough and a tireless worker for the things she believes in.

But she is also a control freak, and I am afraid her desire for control will one day extend into my personal life, and I am committed to doing whatever I can to prevent that from happening.

She may not run for president in 2004, but I feel sure she will run eventually. If ever the label "driven" applied to anyone, it certainly applies to Sen. Clinton. And when she does run, she will be a formidable candidate.

Oddly enough though, I am looking forward to that day. Because even though I dislike almost everything about Hillary Clinton, there is one thing I love about her - she's a three-dimensional character who people react strongly to, either positively or negatively. We have had too many boring, soulless presidential campaigns where there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the two major candidates and where the electorate was notably disinterested in the campaign as a result.

Not so if Hillary is in the race. I for one will work vigorously to support whoever runs against her and I relish the prospect of doing battle against the Ice Queen of Liberalism.

It's time we had a real battle in November, and I thank the courageous 30 percent of Democratic poll respondents for nudging Hillary toward giving us all something to get excited about in 2004.

Bill Ferguson is a columnist for the Warner Robins Daily Sun. Readers may write to him at: The Daily Sun, 1553 Watson Boulevard, Warner Robins, Ga. 31093-3449.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002


Hillary . . . a runaway favorite? Must have been a tiny sample. Even a lot of the Dems around here consider her a joke. Kerry would get a lot of support around here -- he's viewed as "an okay guy." I don't think he's presidential material, but a lot of people around here take him seriously.

I don't think anyone will unseat Bush.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002


-`Hate to tell you but all the nurses around where The Hungarian works think Hillary is wonderful.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002

Who do we like? The Bushes, Hillary and J. Lo

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton, Laura Bush and J. Lo have something in common: Americans like them.

A Gallup poll found the nation divided in the contest for “most admired” woman. Among men, President Bush remained the clear favorite for the second year in a row.

Clinton, the former first lady who now represents New York in the Senate, and her successor in the White House, Laura Bush, topped Gallup’s list of women along with talk show host Oprah Winfrey. Clinton was favored by 7 percent of those surveyed; Bush and Winfrey had 6 percent each.

Among men, the president had a commanding 28 percent for men — well ahead of the runner-up, former president Jimmy Carter who was in single digits.

Jennifer Lopez’s new movie and album, along with heavy media coverage of her pending wedding nuptials to actor Ben Affleck, boosted her to the sixth spot with 2 percent. That put her on par with incoming Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Former first lady Barbara Bush and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher each got 3 percent.

Among younger respondents, Lopez outpolled them all with 10 percent.

Party lines had some bearing on results. Clinton pulled 15 percent among Democrats; the first lady led among Republicans, with 13 percent. They remain no match for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who won 60 percent of Americans’ vote in 1963 following her husband’s assassination.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002



President Bush had earned 39 percent in the wake of last year’s terrorist attacks, a record high among men since the survey began in 1948. His dip in Gallup’s 2002 poll mirrors his sliding approval ratings over the last several months.

Events also pushed up Carter’s standing, with the recent Nobel Peace Prize winner rising from just 1 percent in 2001. He was the favorite among Democrats polled.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, Pope John Paul II, former President Bill Clinton and the Rev. Billy Graham each earned 2 to 4 percent.

The telephone survey of 1,009 adults was conducted Dec. 16-17 and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Respondents were asked to name the two people they admire most.

Only one man, Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington, from the entertainment world made it into the men’s top-10. He rounded out that list along with former South African President Nelson Mandela, former Vice President Al Gore and former President Reagan.

Poet Maya Angelou and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also made the top-10 women’s list.

-- Anonymous, December 28, 2002


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