What’s wrong with Hillary as a candidate? Come on. She is just wonderfully qualified and laser smart. But if we’re concerned about electability…..then, Oprah. Of course, it’d be a steep step down for her and a helluva pay cut but she’d be fantastic With Gayle King as Chief of Staff.

Chelsea Clinton.

It is embarrassing — or, perhaps, telling — that I cannot think of anyone, but suffice it to say it would not be Geena Davis, who played one, badly, on TV. I am a huge fan of both Abigail Adams and Dolly Madison. They couldn’t vote, much less run, but they were virtual presidents anyway.

Golda Meir.

Either the late Governor of Texas, Ann Richards, or the late star of stars, Katharine Hepburn. They’d have kicked some stuff in the White House!

No Amercan woman of my lifetime comes to mind. Margaret Thatcher is the type who might have been elected in the U.S.,but we really haven’t had such a woman in politics that I can think of. Part of it, I’m sure, is conditioning. But there it is.

One with a husband, hair, and wardrobe that would meet the mysterious but apparently crucial and exacting demands of the American public.

I’m just reading “The Nine” by Jeffrey Toobin about the Supreme Court, which brings to mind Sandra Day O’Connor. She is smart and serious, with a healthy temperament; she’s authentic and political; and she has demonstrated a capacity to grow, and a strong desire to fight extremism.

I agree with Candice, re: Hillary. I can guarantee whoever the woman might be, she would face the same misogyny as Hillary has — including, but not limited to, the internet boy’s club, "Citizens United Not Timid;" the McCain campaign’s, "How are we going to stop the bitch?" and even the puny and adolescent "Nut Cracker." Love Peggy’s notion about Elizabeth I. But, even the Virgin Queen would be marketed as a nut-cracking gizmo designed to lift her own royal dress for proper pecan placement.

If Ann Richards were alive, she’d be the best. Nothing would get past her. She was too big, brainy and too funny. Too down to earth. Unflappable. Wildly and creatively pragmatic. World class charismatic. Way charming. If you can handle the good ol’ boys in the Texas State House, you can handle the crackers AND the nuts. And, good god, she would’ve been so much fun for the spirit of our country and likely the world. Talk about Obama being inspiring! If we’d had the good fortune of knowing President Richards, Ann would, as Liz said, "kick some stuff in the White House." I picture her every morning appearing in the Oval Office doorway and singing out, "Isn’t it wonderful?" and it would be.

I’m still hanging in there for Hillary.

Since we are not limiting ourselves to people who are alive, then how about that tough little cookie, Elizabeth I of England? She was a natural executive, had her father’s flair if not his dismal self-indulgences, had a keen rhetorical sense — “I am but a poor woman, but I’ve the heart and belly of a king” — and was not romantic about history. That is, she was not looking for trouble. She had a lot of trouble, and knew you don’t have to look for it, it will find you. An American president who wants to face the problems we actually have, and not look for stirring new adventures, might be just right right now.