Hillary Clinton's presidential run, RIP

I really don't understand Hillary Clinton. I don't undersand Hillary Clinton the Senator who is still unwilling to apologize for her vote authorizing the use of force against Iraq in 2003 - as other Presidential candidates such as John Edwards have so courageously and eloquently done. I don't understand Hillary Clinton the Presidential candidate, either. For example, from ABC News' Jake Tapper, we are made aware of just how self-destructive her trianguating, posturing and hedging are for both the Democratic Party and her own candidacy.

Tapper asked her about Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Peter Pace's idiotic comment that homosexuality is "immoral", specifically asking for her opinion on the outrageous slur. Talk about a softball question, right. Well, she more than wiffed it, she swung, missed and and hit the catcher in the head with her bat, giving him a severe concussion.

Her response? "General Pace has clarified his remarks, but let's not lose sight of the fact that 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' is not working," she said. "We are being deprived of thousands of patriotic men and women who want to serve their country who are bringing skills into the armed services that we desparately need, like translation skills. And one can argue whether it was a good idea when it was first implemented, but we know have evidence as to the fact that we are in a time of war -- when we really need as many people as we can to recruit and retain in an all-volunteer army -- we are turning people away or discharging them not because of what they've done but because of who they are."

Tapper redirected: He asked: "But is it immoral?"

"Well I'm going to leave that to others to conclude," she said. "I'm very proud of the gays and lesbians I know who perform work that is essential to our country, who want to serve their country and I want make sure they can."

So Hillary Clinton, a putative Democratic candidate for the Presidency next year, isn't willing to go out on a limb and say, simply, "No, homosexuality is not immoral"? She is willing to alienate the tens of millions of gay American men and women - who predominantly vote for Democratic candidates - in order to do what? Secure the Evangelical Christian vote that she has no chance of getting? Or did she make a split-second calculation that the majority of independent, undecided voters believe that homosexuality is immoral? Where did she gain that brilliant political insight?

If Clinton wins the Democratic primary, I'll have to hold my nose pretty tightly and hold back my gag reflex in order to pull the lever for her. I truly don't understand where she's coming from.

Update: This Harris Interactive poll doesn't look good for Hillary:

Half of voting-age Americans say they would not vote for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) if she became the Democratic nominee for president in 2008, according to a Harris Interactive poll released Tuesday.
More than one in five Democrats that participated in the survey said they would not vote for Clinton. Overall, 36 percent say they would vote for the former first lady and 11 percent are unsure of their top choice.

Forty-eight percent of Independent voters also said that they would choose another candidate over Clinton, the poll, which surveyed 2,223 potential voters, states.

Fifty-six percent of men said that they would not vote for Clinton, while 45 percent of women said that she would not be their pick. In addition, 69 percent of those 62 and older said that they would not vote for Clinton.

Nearly half of the respondents said that they dislike Clinton’s political opinions and Clinton as a person. Fifty-two percent of people also said that “she does not appear to connect with people on a personal level.”