A tough call for Hillary, who has a Napoleon complex a mile wide and thinks her destiny is to be President.

If someone like Dean beats Bush, then Dean would be the obvious candidate in 2008, and Hillary is out of the picture until 2012.

If Bush wins, she would be the obvious candidate in 2008 against whoever the Republicans would have to run.

If she breaks formation now and goes for 2004, she has to blow the other Democrats out of the water in the process, and still beat Bush. If she wins, she's golden. If she loses, she has to eat the loss and wait again until 2008, but this time with a humiliating loss on her record.

A reasonable person who was not slavering for power would easily decide to wait for 2008. Instead of having to sink the other Democrats and make enemies, she could support them and make friends. She could consolidate her position as Senator, although she has to run for reelection in 2006 and a loss there would make 2008 a lot trickier.

Will be interesting to see what happens.