This soap opera has done nothing to erase Hillary Clinton's vulnerabilities. She starts with 30 percent who would vote against her, no matter what. That's a pretty high stepping off point for a challenger.

226

He's such an insignificant player on the national stage, a plodding speech praising JFK and discovering tax cuts won't do much to enhance his stature.

193

They transcend the swamp of New York politics. Because of their celebrity, Clinton and Giuliani are able to rise above the mire that soils so many other New York politicians.

172

There are more jokes about losers than there are books about losers. The most common volumes you see written about them are the bumper stickers during the next administration: Don't blame me; I voted for the loser.

168

It was a moment on the national stage for Pataki. And he can say that when an out-of-control, liberal union tried to shut down New York, he took a firm line.

162

You always want to have an opposition figure that will galvanize your base, and Bush is that figure for Hillary.

113

Pataki might think ethanol will win him farm votes in Iowa. But when he's carrying the weight of his liberal views on abortion and gay rights, a boutique tax cut for alternative fuels won't put much in Pataki's tank for a presidential race.

89

You don't find much presidential timber in New York because the soil is polluted with machine politics, ... Unlimited incumbency and almost unlimited patronage breed grubby politicians. But Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani cut in line to win here without paying dues to the spoils system.

61