I am the first person to admit that what we need is expertise. Likeability shouldn't be a factor.

But the fact is, Hillary is NOT more qualified than the other candidates. The ONLY advantage she has in my mind over the others is that she'd bring Bill with her. I would vote for him in a second and really, I would very much appreciate having them as a twofer.

However, if I could get Al Gore in the white house, there would be no contest. Hillary even with Bill is not an Al Gore.

The problem with ALL presidential candidates is that they have become so blatantly opportunistic that they reek with the stench of ambition. It causes an immediate and extreme revulsion. I know few well educated, independent smart women (a major demographic these days) who would vote for Hillary-- her positions on Israel and on the Iraq War have made her unsupportable. Unfortunately, John Edwards and Barack Obama can be tarred with the self-promoting brush as well (though Barack had the good sense to oppose the ridiculous "war"). And of course, each of the republicans is more nakedly ambitious than all of the Democrats combined. Having been abused as we have by Bush and Rove and their ilk for the last 8 years (though I never voted for the idiot), will even the most ethnocentric, ignorant Americans tolerate endlessly blind ambition again?

ONLY Al Gore can emerge from this mess as being someone truly dedicated to the idea of public service. He was raised to be president, it's true ---- but he was raised to be president in a different time and place, with different ideals. He was raised to be president by parents who believed he had something to offer and who believed politics was a noble profession involving sacrifice and courage, not opportunities for wealth, prestige and fame.

None of this matters of course, because when Stockholm casts their vote for president by giving Al the Nobel Prize this fall, the election will pretty much be decided. ALL Americans are dazzled by the Nobel Prize. It's the absolute proof that you are smart and good and worthy. And the contrast to the idiocy of Bush will be overwhelming. When the country is brought to its knees by incompetent leadership, will it be possible to resist the promise of Gore? He'll run, and he'll win and the horrors of the Bush administration will somehow have begun to be set right. Hillary and Barack and John can sit back and plan future fundraising efforts. Al will work on fixing things. There will be a redemption. We can only hope.

Why is it that Keith Olbermann can be brave and clear-sighted and truthful, and the rest of the main stream media acts as though they are afraid a gulag awaits them just around the corner? Is Olbermann naive or are they cowards?

I hope he reads these comments and knows that vast and overwhelming majority is eternally grateful for his strength in speaking the truth, when all around him lie.

Joe Biden goes on the Daily Show or the Late Show and makes a pretty good play of being out of the political mainstream---speaking with candor and outrageous bemusement at the political system he knows so well and yet distances himself from. He tries to pass himself off as being above the frey---no fundraising in 30 years, soemone not afraid to say what's on his mind--and yet when push comes to shove and he goes too far and alienates people, he shows himself to be the consummate politician, backpedaling, apologizing, smirking his inimitable "Can't you take a joke?" sly little grin.

I hate to say it, but he has quite alot of the frat boy in him. Humble roots (maybe?), but he doesn't seem enjoy being thought of as someone who takes things seriously. I like him, he'd be fun at a family barbecue, but he isn't worthy of the presidency. Enough of electing presidents who are fun to drink with.

I want a president, after eight years of an idiot puppet controlled by beelzebub himself, who is smart, honest, savvy, strategic, strong, compassionate, ethical and experienced. Smart? I'd say Hillary and Barack and John Edwards fill that bill; Honest? Hard to say at this point. Savvy? Hillary has that market cornered---to such an extreme she is a total turnoff. She takes savvy to the level of ruthless. Strategic? All of them, I think. John Edwards gives the impression of being more than a little afraid of just how dirty the mud-slinging can get. (His WIFE though, is totally up to those challenges and he knows it!).

The one person who can redeem us? (And I mean that in every sense of the word.) Al Gore. We all know it. It's 100+ degrees here AGAIN. And will be all summer long. And in october, when it cools off to a balmy 90, he'll win the Nobel Prize, and then the race will narrow considerably. I hate to be a broken record, but it just seems to OBVIOUS. Global Warming, Foreign Policy, Political expertise, problem solving ability, humanity and the ability to empathize with people other than those at the helm of the oil industry or the military industrial complex...... there is not a better candidate.

Why waste time with Joe "I figured someone back there had to be a coal miner! Turns out they were all engineers who went to Lehigh!" Biden? Al Gore as president. Just imagine what that would be like. Even you hard-core 26% out there who still want those beers with Dubya---can't we agree you could guzzle with Dubya, but let Al run the country?