Monitor: US comment on Hillary Clinton's chances of winning a seat in the Senate next year

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MAYBE THE next century will be better for West Virginia. Hillary Clinton wants to join the Senate. The sound you just heard wasn't another ashtray being thrown at the Big Creep. That was opportunity knocking. Hillary is our ticket out of here. Hillary is political gold. No, platinum. No, plutonium. Her two terms as first lady to the first adolescent earned her sympathy enough to last through the next millennium.

Charleston Daily Mail, WVirg

THE MOST obvious hazard for Hillary is the possibility she won't wear well personally. Right now she is a celebrity riding high - the personification of civility and polish. But in New York, both the press and political rivals can test the patience of a saint. Hillary Clinton has chosen, tentatively at least, a formidable assignment even for someone as sophisticated as she. It makes sense to begin by trying to learn more about that assignment. But learning alone doesn't make you a New Yorker - if that matters.

The Corning Leader, NY

MRS CLINTON, of course, sees no problem reconciling the roles of first lady and a Senate candidate: "It's not so dissimilar from someone being in the Congress and running for the Senate, or being governor and running for another office," she said. She should know -- although there would seem to be a world of difference between the demands on a first lady, the quasi-ornamental, quasi-inspirational national helpmate, and those on a statewide candidate committed to local party politics. The fact is, Mrs. Clinton - always a first lady, never before a candidate - has not ever in her career been held accountable. One hopes New York voters will.

Washington Times, DC

IT'S TALKING that really matters. Clinton has done the first real talking of the campaign. She showed an understanding of national, state and local policy. But her biggest accomplishment may have been in demonstrating that she's as personable as she is knowledgeable. She kissed babies and signed autographs for "ordinary" people. She didn't recoil or recede behind a Secret Service escort. It's a start.

Newsday, NY