John Leo Handicaps the 2008 Democratic Primaries

John Leo is one of the smartest political and media observers on the scene today. He thinks Hillary Clinton's way out in front of the Democrat pack at this point:

Hillary Clinton is likely to be the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee because she is so much smarter than her rivals now on the horizon. Once in the Senate, she made a beeline for the armed services committee because she understood that the first female president will have to be a hawk, just as the first Catholic president (JFK) had to be adamant about not aiding Catholic schools, and the first Jewish president will have to voice doubts about Israel.

I think he's missing something, though. The GOP has the most to gain from running a female or minority candidate for President, as this will likely lead to pickups amongst single women and minorities, two groups which tend to vote overwhelmingly for the Democrats.

Hillary will scare off the white male voters the Democrats desperately need.