The question is not whether she will run for President. We already know the answer.

As the Associated Press reported in August, her husband told a friend it is not a matter of "if" but "when" Hillary will make her bid for the White House.

So the question is, as Bill asks, "When will Hillary run?"

On "Meet the Press," Hillary denied to Tim Russert any "intention" of running for President.

Of course, she will deny any presidential "intention" until the day she announces.

Russert did note Hillary's legerdemain of language when she described her intent as to running in 2008, as opposed to 2004.

Asked about 2004, Hillary responded, "Absolutely not."

As to 2008, she told Russert only, "I have no plans to run for President."

Despite the word games, we should remember that the Clintons' words are not so important, because they are congenital liars, as William Safire once described Hillary.

Make no mistake about it: Hillary is anxious to get back to Washington.

She likes Buffalo just as much as Little Rock, and no doubt would like to blow upstate New York off her calendar permanently.

But so far, Hillary knows how to do her homework and pay her dues. She has become a popular New York senator and has earned high marks for constituent work.

She also has become the most powerful figure in the Democratic Party.

She knows if she does run in 2004, she has the Democratic primaries sewn up. As Dick Morris explains, Hillary has the party's key constituencies in her back pocket, including the African-American bloc.

She also controls the Hollywood-New York bigwig donors, and her buddy Terry McAuliffe guards the Democratic National Committee for her.

Smartly, Hillary has no interest in becoming a lightning rod for the Conservatives or even critics in her own party.

Hillary is playing down her Leftwing ideology and is constantly trying to act the part of a moderate. She is well aware that the minute she openly seeks the Presidency, all gloves are off and she will become the subject of fierce criticism.

Nor does Hillary want to contest President Bush, if he turns out to have lasting popularity.

Hillary and Bill Clinton know how fleeting Bush's popularity may be.

They remember well that George W. Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, was the most popular president ever after the Persian Gulf War. This soft popularity allowed a little-known Arkansas governor to run for office as many better-known Democrats pulled out of the presidential race fearing, a Bush reelection landslide in 1992.

George W. Bush's success and his likelihood of winning a second term won't become clear for another year, and Hillary would have to make her intention well known by then.

That's too risky for her. It's already getting too late to ask her big-money friends to stay on the sideline.

So Hillary and Bill are taking a middle course. They are preparing for a 2008 race, while keeping open a 2004 bid as Vice President.

Soon it will be clear that the Clintons are covertly backing one of the Democratic candidates, maybe Gore or Edwards.

The Clintons will make clear to their candidate the price of their support, as well as that of McAuliffe and the DNC: a pledge by the candidate to offer Hillary the Vice President spot in 2004, if she wants it.

Hillary has the best of both worlds. She stands as the presumptive Democratic nominee for 2008, but will be on the ticket in 2004 if Bush falters.

Meanwhile, she can keep a low profile and avoid becoming a Ted Kennedy-type lightning rod.

If a Democrat does win in 2004, Hillary will be Vice President Hillary Rodham Clinton, just one step away from the Oval Office by a proverbial single heartbeat.

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