This was very nicely written, and well-thought out. I have one quibble with it: Let us not forget that Sen.Clinton actively helped authorised the invasion, and did so for political reasons.

that Hagel just voted against debate of the war. Some dissent.

Geez, Garrison, do you really want this country to turn into a little tennis ball that is lobbed back and forth between two ruling families? I wish we had a constitutional amendment barring anyone who is or was married to a president, or is the son or daughter of a president, or a brother or sister of a president, from running for president. What we've got now is going a long way towards undoing the No Third Term principle.

Saverino??

Neither of them are particularly brave or admirable. All they are showing us is 20/20 hindsight and empty gestures. It doesn't take any courage to say that the emperor has no clothes when everyone has already figured that out.

I am generally an admirer of Mr. Keillor, but this article makes me a bit sick. How can he lend his official support to a person who made a vote to kill thousands of Iraqis and Americans, all for the sake of looking "macho" and getting votes that will make her President? Is her coming to power worth the lives of Iraqis and Americans? This lady is nothing but a panderer. All politicians are, but I once believed in Hilary and believed her strong dignity, intellect and headstrong determination to make a better world would give America back its reputation.

If Hilary wins the Democratic nomination, I swear I will go and campaign for the Republican nominee. Might as well work for someone who truly believes in this war than for a sellout

Keillor on Hagel:

"If you were casting the role of presidential nominee, he would be it. He is a Republican dissenter, a rarity in our time, a caribou among Holsteins."

To bad that Hagel and Warner just filibustered their own non-binding resolution criticising the Iraq Surge. Talk is cheap to these guys--it's how you vote that counts.

Hagel has voted with the pResident more than any other Republican over the past couple years. But he talks pretty, and talk is what is important to Keillor.

Already bad enough, but then Keillor immediately goes on to rhapsodize about Hillary. Hillary who just today refused to say that her decision to vote George Bush Jr the power to conquer Iraq was a mistake.

Jeebus. Is this the best we can do?

I'm starting to hope Ahmadinejab does get some nukes and uses them on us. Being incinerated would be less painful than reading self-hating Democrat dribbling like this.

the woman was way out of line on the war. nothing could possibly persuade me to vote for her. we need someone who can stand up for what is right.

"The Current Occupant has been very cordial to folks in the Democrat Party lately, which a Publican president ought to be"

The question is not whether a woman is electable, but whether Hillary is. It might make you happy that the little trolls get their panties in a wad, but the fact is that they have persuasive power.

Hillary is a very divisive figure. I don't think it is a good idea to go into an election with someone who has such huge negatives. Too many people loathe her. That may not be fair or rational, but it is true.

I personally like Hillary and think she would be a good president. I just think that nominating her would be the latest in the string of comical misfires the Democratic party consistently comes up with.

I don't know about you, but I enjoyed the fact that we finally won an election. We might get all nostalgic about the good old days when we were constant whipping boys, but I don't think it is a good idea to return to that particular idealized past.

Hillary lost my vote when she decided to woo conservatives by making a stand against video games and The Evils That Beset Our Children. I wouldn't vote for her for the same reason I wouldn't vote for Lieberman; she's dishonorable and dishonest.

John Quincy Adams. Ever heard of him?

Not the first time in American history this has come up.

I've never been able to be angry at Mr. Kellor, even when he attempts something I don't think he has any ability to do; get angry or discuss politics. In fact, I feel sorry that he stumbled into this situation without really understanding what was making his Hush Puppies stick to the floor.

Just as Republicans demonized Democrats, or anyone else who disagreed with the Bushies, so have Democrats become irreconcilably split from Republcans. And calling them cute, slightly insulting names like the "Democrat Party" isn't helping. Worst of all, while he sees Clinton as a uniting figure, all she is doing is uniting lots of people in both parties against her. She is too tarnished, too self-interested and too easy a target for anything else.

Yet, Kellor is right. We need a uniting figure. There just doesn't happen to be one in either party that has made an appearance. That person would have to be a Democrat, because the Republicans marched in lock-step behind Bush too long to think independently. But it couldn't be a Democrat with any support for the war; Lieberman, not strictly a Democrat any more, is also too compromised a figure.

The country needs someone who can appeal to the healing process, someone who is charismatic and human, someone who thinks of people rather than inflexible ideologies. But there isn't a Franklin Delano Roosevelt anywhere in sight. If memory serves, even Roosevelt didn't look like a great figure until he was actually elected; his "fear itself" speech was a shock and a uniting moment for the country. Who could such a figure be? Obama? Clark? Dean? Will we have to roll the dice and hope for the best? God help us. Please.

I liked Mr. Keillor’s article. So many people nowadays have a “small picture” view of politics. They take exception to a singular act, failing to analyze the rational behind the act, and using that act to condemn and define the entirety of one’s views. If we use this same judgment against the accusers, then they become petty thinkers with petty prejudices fueled by petty imaginations.

Hilary Clinton may be the most qualified candidate for the presidency. However, she will have a legion of haters voicing moral indignation. They demand a pure candidate, one like themselves.