Sunday September 23, 2007

Hillary Clinton wants your vote and she's willing to talk about anything to get it. In a nearly two hour Q-and-A session at the Paramount Theater, the democratic presidential hopeful addressed foreign policy, health care and education.

She even spent a good portion of the afternoon discussing her favorite baseball teams.

It was all part of an event organized by best-selling author John Grisham. Grisham sat onstage with Mrs. Clinton and basically held a lengthy, yet informal conversation. That was followed up by a series of questions from members of the audience.

When all was said and done many were impressed.

"She's absolutely brilliant, I agree with most all of her positions and I'm at that age where it's time to see a woman be president," said Hillary supporter Gail Montuori.

Others were less than impressed with the candidate and took aim at her voting record.

"She voted originally to give [President] Bush the authorization to go to war and then everytime a bill came up she voted to support it," said anti-war activist Denise Tynan. "In essence it's been continued when it needs to come to a stop."

It's all par for the course when you're one of the most polarizing figures in American politics.

But the politician who wants to be the first female president in U.S. history, knows she's got more history fighting against her, namely Virginia's voted GOP in every presidential election since the 60s.

"If we put together a positive agenda that makes sense to people in Virginia, that tries to get beyond all the divisiveness that has unfortunately marked our politics, and I think undermined our capacity to really get the job done in America," Mrs. Clinton said, "it could be that Virginia could be competitive."