Clinton Seen As Easy Winner On Tuesday

United States Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has amassed a war chest of about $20 million, caused Democrats and Republicans alike to abandon any idea of opposing her reelection and is extensively covered by the media, albeit more for her potential presidential run in 2008 than her re-election bid this year. Yet the most powerful woman pol in the country could not avoid a primary next Tuesday.

Clinton just couldn't shake a 49-year-old labor organizer and writer named Jonathon Tasini whose sole issue is total opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq and the fact that Clinton voted for the invasion of that Middle Eastern country.

However, Tasini does not have the financing to mount a credible campaign against Clinton, nor has he been able to lure other anti-war advocates to his anti-Clinton bandwagon.

The junior senator from New York, of course, has, for the most part, ignored Tasini's barbs, has campaigned in the state sparingly while pursuing her 2008 objective in a businesslike manner, using a campaign contribution here and there to build future support.

Clinton also dodged any debate with Tasini, in part because his failure to raise a respectable amount of campaign cash kept debate sponsors from viewing him as a serious contender.

Tusini has said he has just about run through his $50,000 life savings in pursuit of his impossible dream.

Clinton, meanwhile, has adroitly kept antiwar liberals at arm's length by bashing the Bush Administration's handling of the war whenever an occasion arises, such as the recent blast she directed at Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

At the same time, Clinton states, responsibly, that we cannot set a timetable for withdrawing our troops from Iraq because it would only increase the danger they face.

Clinton also has had to contend with criticisms from the two Republicans vying for their party's nomination to run against her in November. John Spencer and K.T. McFarland. But she has hardly deigned to respond to these ineffective barbs.

According to pollsters, Clinton is expected to rack up a huge margin against Tasini on Tuesday.