Bush vs. Clinton – and we don't mean the guys

Editor's note: Catherine Moy co-wrote both this column and the book "American Mourning" with Melanie Morgan.

We sat down for a great Italian lunch the other day and began speculating about the possibility of Laura Bush running against Hillary Clinton, giggling over how Mrs. Bush could deliver a roundhouse political punch, decking Mrs. Clinton's aspirations to become the first female commander in chief and not even muss her lovely auburn hair.

Thoroughly sated by that thought, Melanie left her veal scaloppini and headed to the grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner. As she was dumping the mac-and-cheese into the spinning stand, a checkout clerk bolted her crowded lane and rushed over to spread some news: CNN was announcing Laura Bush was running for president.

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We laughed about the coincidence of our girl chat matching up with grocery-store chatter, but couldn't find any news items on such a far-out suggestion. That didn't stop us from speculating about what a Bush vs. Clinton race would look like. After all, tis the season for former first ladies to put on their slacks and shoot for the job of the most powerful woman – er, person – on the planet (remaining politically correct here).

Argentina's former first lady, Cristina Fernandez, won the presidency. Then she wished Mrs. Clinton luck with her campaign and pointed out that the two women shared a lot in common, including the fact that they are attorneys and senators and the each have a uterus.

"Everything seems to indicate that she is the favorite of the Americans" in the Democratic primary fight, Fernandez said of Hillary Clinton. "And why not? Another woman wouldn't be bad."

Well, we agree – especially if that woman were Mrs. Bush.

We aren't the only ones who dream of a Bush-Clinton face-off. Before Mrs. Clinton threw her hat in the ring, Vice President and Mrs. Cheney joked about a match-up between Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Bush.

"You know, people are thinking of Mrs. Clinton running for president. I think Mrs. Bush ought to run for president," Mrs. Cheney said on "Larry King Live" in May 2005. "If we want to have a Bush dynasty, let's get Laura Bush."

"It's a great idea," Dick Cheney said. "And I think I know who would win too."

There is no doubt that Mrs. Clinton has higher negatives than Mrs. Bush. But Mrs. Clinton has spent some time in the Senate, which means she is good at talking without saying a blasted thing. Mrs. Clinton knows the legal system and Mrs. Bush knows the Dewey Decimal System.

Mrs. Clinton says her experience of living in the White House gives her the experience to run the White House. Fox News anchor Chris Wallace interviewed Mrs. Bush on Sunday and asked her if serving in the White House qualified one for the presidency.

"There's no doubt about it that you know everything about living in that house, for instance," Mrs. Bush said. "And I would certainly say September 11 is the example that – the most, you know, obvious example of things happening while you live there that you don't expect, that you have to deal with."

Mrs. Bush dealt with 9/11. Mrs. Clinton dealt with Monica-gate. Mrs. Bush lives with a man who oversees a war. Mrs. Clinton lived with a man who dealt with bimbo eruptions. So let's see: The attacks of radical Muslim jihadists vs. a stained blue dress. Hmmm.

Mrs. Bush may be a woman, but she will not put her ovaries before her principles. She is also not a candidate, sadly, so Mrs. Bush will vote for a man and suggested others should overlook the woman "thang" in 2008's election.

"So the fact that she's a woman doesn't matter?" Wallace asked Mrs. Bush.

"No, it doesn't matter to me. And I hope it doesn't matter to other people," Mrs. Bush said. " I hope that people will choose the candidate that they think really has the views that they want, you know, that they believe in, and that represent them in the way that they want to be represented."

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