On Hilary Clinton the Dem candidate...

Americans love polls. They poll for public opinions on everything. It's like the Brits making and taking bets on everything.

Now that it's presidential election season, loads of polls weigh in, on which what public thinks of this and that candidate, or so-and-so might win.

Back in 2004, John Edwards looked like an unlikely winner who got on the wrong ticket with John Kerry who could have won the selection, if Americans found him a tad more handsome. Yes, it's sad but true. American public doesn't give much of a damn about whether a president lie, or is incompetent, as much as the fact that s/he has to look good (handsome, mostly). That would have accounted for Bush the candidate who's missing his brain, to have won the election over Kerry, in 2004.

Enlisted help from his wife, Edwards has made quite an attempt to look like Bobby Kennedy - the agenda, the pain-on-the-face look - minus the perfectly groomed hairdo. This time round though, Barack Obama came out of nowhere, and upstaged Edwards in almost everything (mass appeal, web presence, fundraising, even the title of being the outsider).

And then there is no Hillary Clinton. I would be the first to admit that I had not liked her at the first glance. But she has since grown on me. Forget about elevating American standing in the world stage, and the intellect (compared to the infinitely shrinking brain of Bush), and the decisiveness, and more. I said forget about those, since they're a given for Hillary, and I buy in on all those already.

For me, what it really comes down is, is the policy and the personality. Recently, I was reading her book Living History. Normally, I don't really biography, particularly one that comes out of a presidential candidate. In fact, I never did. But the book did bring to me a perspective of this person, and what she's able to bring to the table, should she become president. And I hope she will.

The fact that she's a woman really is a non-issue to me. But this is a very interesting topic of Hillary Clinton, for she evokes such strong feelings in people to go for and against her.

Which brings us back to the recent numerous polls. The one from New York Times indicates that 12% of men and 12% of women are against her, on the grounds that she's too much a politician. This makes me wonder, what do they think Bush is? Are these 12% of people in both gender smoking or something?!?

In any case, it's infinitely more interesting to watch the field of Dem candidates than the GOP's, which isn't much too look at.

PS: After watching The Inconvenient Truth, I was thinking out loud, as to how much better served this country would be, had Gore won the election. At least then we would have a president who is capable of spending time and diving into data and facts to make informed decisions on important subjects that we all care about. (Rather than waiting for an epiphany from God, or from Karl Rove, or from Cheney, as Bush would probably have.)