During the last month or so, it has become more and more apparent to me that Hillary (Rodham) Clinton will be our next president. This doesn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, she is the reason I became an early Bill Clinton supporter. I saw her at a rally in a hangar outside of Wichita, Kan, where she spoke at considerable length with humor, grace and conviction--all apparently off the cuff. There were no cue cards or prepared text or anything. I liked her immediately.

These days, she's not my favorite candidate among the Dems. But, like most Americans, I see a potential Hillary Clinton presidency as far preferable to the one we're experiencing right now. Which brings me to the point: Hillary Clinton is the beneficiary of an almost-invisible conspiracy to sweep her into the White House.

The 2000 election put all this in motion. She was just getting herself elected to the Senate, but any student of history knows that she wouldn't have had a chance in the 2008 election (her obvious goal even then) if Al Gore got elected. And since the Gores and the Clintons weren't quite as tight as they'd been back on the bus in August 2000, it wasn't that difficult to soft-pedal Bill's support for Al. Sure, Al's campaign was an unmitigated disaster (with a somewhat reluctant candidate at the head), but the Clintons didn't help much.

Similarly, a John Kerry win in 2004 would have scuttled this current campaign. Indeed, had Kerry or any Democrat won in 2004, the Republicans would be running way ahead by now. Iraq would have become a Democratic war. Bleah. But no worries. Bill had a convenient heart attack and spent almost no time on the Kerry campaign trail.

The most important consideration in Clinton's current campaign, however, is competence. In debates, she's the one who appears "presidential": reserved, confident, oozing with that slight unctuousness that is necessary to carry off public perception of the office. Listen to her speak for a few seconds and you're likely to think, "Damn, who's that fool oyster cracker we've got in the White House now?" There's just no comparison. Say what you like about Hillary Clinton; everyone believes that she can get things done. Indeed, this is why the right wing nuts go after her. They're afraid that she's going to do things--and do them well.

In short, the only person who could get Hillary Clinton elected president is George W. Bush. If the Prez had even been slightly competent, his party's nominee would be a significant favorite in a race with Clinton. She was Lady Macbeth for eight years, the woman who stood by her man even as she passed time with Vince Foster or whoever. She was the uppity woman who just didn't understand how to stay in her place as First Lady. Forty to fifty percent of the people thought she was the devil incarnate. But in a poll released last week, she led all comers in the presidential race--and had the lowest negative ratings as well. In other words, more people want her to be president, and fewer people don't want her to be president. She's the clear front-runner.

And she has done a remarkable job in the Senate. When one pundit (defending Barack Obama) asked, "What freshman senator ever made a mark?," the immediate answer was "Hillary Clinton." She worked hard to push bipartisan legislation and got a number of her bills passed. She knows the players and she knows how to play the game.

But that's not enough to explain the resurgence in her ratings. The Prez figures heavily in this equation. Without the astoundingly incompetent second Bush Administration, she'd still be the pushy bitch. Now, more and more people don't mind if she is, in fact, a pushy bitch. In fact, they'd like to see a president who is willing and able to take charge and fix a few fucked up situations. They'd like to see some form of universal health care. They'd like to see a more manageable and sensible plan for improving schools. They'd like, y'know, to not be in Iraq. They're looking for practical, rather than ideological, solutions. And Hillary Clinton's record is nothing if not the triumph of practical politics over ideology.

So did the Prez sandbag his own administration so that Hillary Clinton could roll into office? It's looking more and more that way. Why would he do it? I dunno. Maybe the Globe is wrong. Maybe Laura Bush isn't set to file for divorce because of the Prez's special time with Condi. Maybe he's been taken in by a headstrong Democratic Mata Hari, a superspy who used (and is using) her wiles to destroy the Republican Party--while never taking her toothbrush out of the White House residence.

Outlandish? Hey, back in the early 80s Madonna was known in music circles as "McDonna--Millions served." She finally got her record deal and remains a massive pop star more than 20 years later despite having no appreciable vocal talent. She's smart and she's done what whatever it takes to get where she is and stay there.

Sounds a lot like our next president. Let the conspiracy theories fly.

Jon Worley finds the thought of Hillary Clinton seducing the current Prez only slightly more absurd than Missouri stomping Nebraska 41-6 on national television.