Time for Hillary to fish or cut bait

Poor Wesley Clark. He jumps into the crowded presidential race. He immediately leads the pack of nine other Democrats. Not only that, just four days after throwing his helmet into the ring, he beats George W. Bush, 49 to 46, in a CNN/USA Today poll.

And what's his reward? He's dismissed by such political luminaries as Bill Safire, Pat Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Rudy Giuliani, Mario Cuomo and the Wall Street Journal's John Fund as nothing more than "a stalking horse for Hillary Rodham Clinton."

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Bill and Hillary put Gen. Clark up to running, the conspiracy theory goes, just to weaken all the other candidates. And if, come January, it looks like President Bush is really vulnerable, the Clintons will push Clark out as fast as they pushed him in – in order to make room for Hillary. Why? Because, otherwise, assuming some other Democrat wins, Hillary would have to wait until 2012 to run for president, when she'd be 65 years old.

What an interesting theory: This highly-decorated four-star general is nothing but a dupe for the Clintons. And what total nonsense. It makes you wonder how many UFOs Limbaugh and company have spotted lately.

Notice: Except for Cuomo, the "Hillary's stalking horse" conspirators are all conservatives. With good reason. Three years after leaving the White House as first lady, she remains the right wing's most successful fund-raising target. Just mention the threat of Hillary rising in any pitch, and the dollars come pouring in. Conservatives can't afford for Hillary not to be the center of attention. Their well would go dry.

But, much as I'd like to, I can't blame conservatives alone for this one. Those most responsible for keeping the "Hillary might still run in 2004" speculation alive are none other than Bill and Hillary Clinton themselves.

True, Sen. Clinton has repeatedly and adamantly denied any attention to seek the presidency in 2004. When elected, she made a vow to the people of New York to serve at least one full term in the Senate. She told reporters again this week: "I'm very happy doing what I'm doing. I'm very happy being senator from New York." Asked if her supporters might convince her to change her mind, she emphatically replied: "No."

The problem is, every time Hillary says no, former president Bill says: "Well, maybe." He stunned a New York audience on Sept. 7 by stating that the Democratic Party only had two real stars, Wesley Clark and Hillary Clinton.

One week later, when asked by former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta if, despite all her denials, his wife might still decide to run for president in 2004, Clinton coyly responded: "That's her decision to make, and she alone will make it." Stirring the pot even more, he told supporters he was sure the voters of New York would understand and forgive her if she broke her pledge to complete one full six-year term in the Senate. No wonder there's so much speculation about Hillary's plans.

Now, let's be honest. There's also good reason why the Clintons keep this guessing game alive. The former president knows exactly what he's doing. He lays out the Hillary bait with glee, knowing conservatives will walk into the mousetrap every time. The publicity he stirs up serves the Clintons' own purposes by keeping them both in the spotlight and helping with their own fund-raising activities.

But enough's enough. It's time for the games to end. No matter how much it helps the former first couple, all this Hillary speculation hurts every one of the 10 Democrats actually running for president by taking the spotlight away from them and making them look insignificant by contrast. And that's unfair. It's bad enough for them to get beat up by Republicans. There's no reason for them to get battered and belittled by the titular heads of their own party, too.

If Sen. Clinton wants to run for president, fine. You go, girl! She'd make a great candidate and a great president. I'd be the first to support her.

But, if she's really going to take her chances and not run this time around, then President and Sen. Clinton should just zip it. No more coy teases, no more maybes.

As leaders of the Democratic party, the Clintons should spend more time helping defeat George W. Bush in 2004, and less time pumping Hillary Rodham Clinton for 2008.