( CNN ) -- For all the heavy baggage that she carries , Hillary Clinton is walking on water . Ham-fisted attempts by the Republicans to smear her brain have backfired horribly ( rightly so ; they were distasteful ) , while Republican efforts to hang Benghazi around her neck ( Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus tried this weekend ) have barely dented her popularity among Democrats . Obama calls her a `` buddy '' who would make a `` very effective '' president , and the former secretary of state remains clear front-runner for her party 's 2016 presidential nomination . In fact , right now , she 's the only real runner . And that ca n't be healthy -- for democracy , for the Democrats or even for Clinton . How can we be sure she 's running ? Well , the United States might be the only country in the world where a politician signals his or her ambitions by writing a book . This does not , alas , mean that America 's politicians are unusually literate . Often , the book is bad ; usually , it 's ghostwritten ; only occasionally is it worth reading . But it 's generally a sign . The title of Hillary Clinton 's `` Hard Choices '' -- out on June 9 and helpfully promoted by a series of interviews with TV 's biggest anchors -- suggests a woman who is trying to make sense of a troubled recent past . Becoming Obama 's secretary of state , Egypt , Libya and the Benghazi fiasco were all arguably `` choices '' forced upon her . That they were `` hard '' implies an admission that the outcome was far from desirable . Clinton is a potential presidential candidate who has to deal with not just one compromised record but two . First , the Bill Clinton administration ; second , the Obama administration . In both cases , she seems keen to remind us , she was n't technically in charge . Such is the strange ambiguity of Hillary Rodham Clinton . First , she was the co-president and architect of Bill 's most ambitious domestic reforms , the anti-Tammy Wynette . Then , she was the betrayed wife who did stand by her man . Next the liberal senator , the presidential candidate of the overwhelming majority of the establishment , suddenly a primaries loser who had to reinvent herself as Annie Oakley , finally a loyal servant of the President , a man whose abilities she questioned so rudely in the nomination battle . Like Richard Nixon before her , she is one of those politicians who is defined by longevity . Her politics have changed so often that it 's hard to precisely define what Clintonism is anymore , but she has lasted so long in the spotlight that it 's become almost impossible to conceive that someday she wo n't be president . That 2016 is Clinton 's time is reflected in the surprising , even depressing , lack of an alternative . What is Vice President Joe Biden doing with his weekends ? Or Newark Mayor Cory Booker ( who has ruled himself out , if you can believe that ) ? Or New York Gov . Andrew Cuomo ? Without them , who are we left with ? Maryland Gov . Martin O'Malley , headed for Iowa but probably not very well known there ? Sen. Elizabeth Warren , sometimes pushed as the working-class Hillary but who would probably be unelectable outside of Massachusetts ? Warren , interestingly , has written a book , too . Contrast this silence with the Republican side . The GOP is weighing up Florida Sen. Marco Rubio , Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul , New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie , former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum , Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush ( whether they 've showed any interest in running or not ) , and this pre-contest contest gives the impression that all the action is on the right while the Democrats just sit out what remains of Obama 's second term , waiting for the whole thing to come to a dignified end . Stabenow : Why I 'm ready for Hillary . And the Republican struggle is attractively philosophical . Paul represents the rise of libertarianism ; Christie channels the spirit of Mayor Richard Daley ; Bush is our generation 's Nelson Rockefeller ; Santorum is running to build heaven on Earth . These people are discussing ideas that will shape the future of the country . Clinton is talking largely about herself . Of course , two years is almost an eternity in politics , and things might change . At pretty much this point in the 2008 contest , Clinton also commanded a lead over her opponents and looked set to win the nomination -- and we all know what happened come Iowa . She is a different kind of politician now , having built statesman status with her time as secretary of state . But headed into her second go at the nomination after over 20 years of dominating the national stage , it 's possible that many voters will simply decide that they want a change . Is America really so locked in its partisan , elitist politics that would tolerate another Clinton vs. Bush campaign ? Those who think continuity is unhealthy in a democracy might judge not .
Tim ##mer : Hillary Clinton bashed by GOP , praised by Obama and still front - runner . He says she has new friends , top politicians backing her ; this usually signals candidacy . She must run with two compromised records , with two administrations , he says . Stanley : GOP offers many options . Dems offering one . Do voters want another Clinton ?