Hillary in 2008?

Josh Marshall takes on this question over at Talking Points Memo and he comes to the same conclusion that I have, namely that it would be a bad idea. He brings up the dynasty problem (we really don't need to have all our presidents coming from a few families), and also suggests that Hillary will be a polarizing figure (true). But he also makes a statement I have to admit I disagree with.

Let's be honest, Hillary Clinton is a deeply divisive figure. And if there's one thing Democrats have learned in this and the previous election it is the danger of going into a national election with a candidate who cannot even get a real hearing over a large swath of the country.

The problem with this statement is that it discounts the ability of the Rush Limbaughs and the Ann Coulters to tar any prominent democrat. How long is it going to take, for example, for Barak Obama, one of the most exciting Democrats to come along, to be portrayed as five kinds of evil by the Republican Party? Every potential candidate from Dennis Kucinich to Joe Leiberman has a past that will be exploited by Karl Rove or his surrogates.

I do agree that Hillary's past has calcified to the point that it would be a lot easier for them to do it to her.