Letters

President Hillary?

Having established a track record in the Senate, the former First Lady eyes a run back to the White House in 2008. While some readers called Hillary Clinton's reputation as a polarizing figure undeserved, many saw it as an obstacle, regardless of how they voted in our cover poll

THE VOTES

In the Mail We asked readers to check one of the boxes on our Aug. 28 cover to let us know how they feel about Hillary Clinton. In response, a blizzard of 4,539 covers blew back at us. That's a lot of snail mail in this digital age. The results:

LOVE HER ... 2,286

HATE HER ... 2,122

NEITHER ... 131

Online And 110,029 votes were recorded by our informal, unscientific time.com poll (hey, clicking's a lot easier):

LOVE HER ... 40,821

HATE HER ... 39,280

NEITHER ... 29,928

I read your story on Hillary Clinton [Aug. 28] with great interest and enjoyed learning more about her. But I resent the implication from your cover that I must "hate her" because I don't share her political views. Although I cannot imagine a scenario in which I could personally support her presidential candidacy, I harbor no hatred for her.

SEAN M. HIGGINS

Maineville, Ohio

Not only is Hillary ready to run, but she's also ready to govern. Unlike the current occupant of the White House, she has the intellect and ability to make this country as good as it was when her husband was President. And if, God forbid, we should ever face another disaster like Hurricane Katrina, Clinton wouldn't leave thousands stranded for days in a sports stadium.

CRAIG HENNIN

Chicago

Senator Clinton would run a competitive race for the presidency in 2008, but I do not believe she would win. Republican attacks on her would make the swift boating of John Kerry look like child's play. The country does not need another bitterly divisive presidential campaign. We need a Democratic President to repair the damage done to the U.S. domestically and internationally by this Administration. I hope Hillary can shelve her presidential ambitions for now. She will be a better candidate later--older, wiser and more altruistic.

MARY C. CAULFIELD

Farmington Hills, Mich.

If Hillary were to win, the division between Republicans and Democrats would worsen. Republican men tend to be fearful of strong women. I foresee nothing but war on the home front for the whole term. It might be better for Hillary to run as Vice President on a ticket with a presidential candidate who can bring both parties together.

PENNY PAWL

Napa, Calif.

You state that Clinton has a "centrist vision." Are you kidding? She's no centrist, although she wants everyone to believe she is. If she makes it to the White House, the mask will come off.

JOSEP TOFFANELLO

Tinley Park, Ill.

The fact that Hillary polarizes the country so much says more about the electorate than it does about her abilities and agenda. Sadly, Americans still prefer women with curves rather than nerves. We rush to mock (as your cover blatantly did) any woman with bold opinions and vision. But the joke is on us because we lose every time we permit ourselves to shrink the pool of qualified candidates, female or male, to a collection of shallow and weak-minded individuals who are more likely to muddle in mediocrity than dare to dream.

JOHN UNREIN

Lawrence, Kans.

Regardless of anyone's opinion of Clinton, it's about time that child care and education not be referred to as "feminine causes," as they were in your story, and that national security not be equated with masculinity.

SUSAN SCHIMELFINING

Beaverton, Ore.

Please refresh my memory. When was the last time you had a "love him or hate him" poll for a potential male President? Distasteful at best, sexist at worst.

LESLIE HEMPHILL

Gibsons, B.C.

Communists vs. Christians

"The War for China's Soul" [Aug. 28], on the growth of Christianity in China, said that house churches are "one of China's few bulwarks against government power" and implied that Chinese Communist Party control over religion might be relaxing. But the party infiltrates many social networks. China is a country where politically incorrect websites are routinely shut down, where the government uses text messages as warnings against public demonstrations and has a history of using neighbors to spy on one another. Can Chinese Christians really think that Big Brother isn't watching them pray as well?

JOHN CHI

Fort Lee, N.J.

Exploring Another Option

"Stem Cells: The Hope and The Hype" [Aug. 7] mischaracterized altered nuclear transfer (ANT), a project with which I am associated, as an approach that involves the use of an embryo that dies. ANT produces cells that have the same power and potential as embryonic stem cells but that do not have the same essential properties of the fertilized embryo. So ANT neither creates nor destroys human embryos. Further exploration of this project has been endorsed by leading moral philosophers and religious authorities as well as the President's Council on Bioethics.

WILLIAM B. HURLBUT, M.D.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER

PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON BIOETHICS

Stanford, Calif.

Pluto in Exile

Why the sudden controversy over Pluto's planetary status after all these years [Aug. 28]? To call Pluto a planet, a watermelon or a beach ball changes nothing. It remains the same object it always was.

JOHN M. REYNOLDS

Augusta, Ga.

According to Astronomy's new definition of a planet, Pluto is even more of a Mickey Mouse object than we imagined. So Pluto is in the doghouse. For the time being, anyway.

LISA AHLQVIST

Auckland