Here in the TOC we just finished watching Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Lindsey Graham on CBS. I hadn’t seen a “issues” interview from Senator Clinton in quite a while but this was definitely one.

     I was a it distracted during the interview so I couldn’t catch it all but I definitely took one thing away from the overall tone : Triangulation.

     The interview was purest Clinton.. Bill Clinton that is… Any doubts I had about a Senator Clinton Presidential candidacy in 2008 are gone. Every question was answered with a distinctly center movement. Senator Clinton actually talked about a need to increase the size of the military! Howard Dean must be apoplectic.

     If you are looking for a brutal fisking of the interview or a condemnation of Senator Clinton you will be disappointed. She was calm and poised throughout the interview and issued no crazed statements (thought I caught anyway). This is the face of your next Democratic contender folks and (as political savvy goes) she is much stronger than Senator Kerry ever was. Senator Clinton’s weak link is the right’s srong personal distaste for her but the most recent election proved that “Anybody but X” is not an effective political strategy.

     My point? Well really I would simply like to issue a word of caution to the right. Don’t fall for the easy lure of personal hate. Stick to the issues folks. If you dip into the personal attacks ala the Democratic Underground the voters won’t stand with an neither will I.

     Personally I am dying to see an all-out battle between Condi Rice and Hillary Clinton. But I want to see the battle waged over issues and not just mud slinging.