Let's see....

She's a senator from New York, and a huge power in he Democratic party, who made a serious run at the nomination for president, and will remain influential as long as she's in politics.

I'd say you could take her damned seriously. Whether you like her politics or not.

I rarely ever agree with anything she stands for. But Hillary Clinton is a force to be reckon with. Notwithstanding the fact that she is a U.S. Senator from New York, a former First Lady, and a feisty Presidential candidate- Clinton has always been intelligent, cunning and ruthlessly ambitious. Even now, she is poised to try and outshine Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Should she be taken seriously? If I were Obama and the other Democrats, I would think so.

Bitch could have me killed! I better take her seriously...

You've got to be kidding.  How can anyone not take seriously a candidate who has ended up as one of two for the Democratic nomination?  You can't be completely without qualifications and manage to garner the support of so many people (unless you take the position that anyone who disagrees with you is ignorant and is being duped, in which case you're a self-righteous jackass).  Seems to me most reviewers here are using this as a sounding board for their political philosophies, not as a genuine attempt to discuss whether she's a qualified candidate.  She definitely is qualified by reason of intellect (see Magellan's review below), guts and determination, and political savvy.    Whether you think Hillary would be a disaster or not because of her political philosophy is irrelevant to the issue of whether she should be taken seriously as a candidate.  I had to take Mike Huckabee seriously as a candidate, even though I thought he'd be a disaster as President due to his extreme religiosity (can you imagine him understanding and honoring separation of church and state? I can't.)  Taking Hillary seriously as a candidate doesn't mean you're going to vote for her.

  If she's all that stands between the American people and John McCain, we'd better take her seriously indeed.

http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/8 /30/123006.shtml

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022

I make this comment on Leap Day, February 29, 2008. Hillary Clinton has been battered from pillar to post by a series of political losses the last two to three weeks and she faces the giant Ohio and Texas Primaries on March 4, 2008. Conventional wisdom is overwhelming that she will lose and drop out of the race.

Genghis' non-conventional wisdom states that she will WIN both states. Reason. According to http://realclearpolitics.com/ and other sources, the GOP voters are flocking to vote for her, in the Texas Primary, for sure. The early voting seems to signify such a mindset among Republicans. It may well be enough to keep her in the fight.

I still cannot think of a scenario where the Clinton mob will go quietly into that sweet night. It is not in their psyches. 

She's smart, determined, and tough and clearly wants the presidency. I take her seriously, but how America will remains to be seen.

She's to be taken as seriously as a heart attack or an IRS audit. Just because her ideas about the nature and purpose of the United States government are "out there" doesn't mean that she's not a legitimate danger. In a country where the public has been dumbed down to the degree that it has, it is not entirely out of the realm of possibility that she could become president. And that would be no laughing matter. If she receives the Democratic nomination I will devote my efforts to campaigning for whomever is her chief opponent specifically because she should not be taken lightly. Hillary Clinton, given some real power, would do some "serious" damage to this country.

You have to take her seriously, but I found it much easier to do before she started trying to push herself to the middle. That might work for a lesser known politician to make her more electable, but we are all to familiar with Hillary.

In her position, she has to be taken seriously whether you agree with her positions or not.

You'd have to be an idiot to dismiss Hillary Clinton's political acumen. The woman is a phenomenal public speaker, hell of a fund raiser and strategist. She's a viable threat to gain the White House in 2008 and anyone who doesn't realize that has got their head in the sand.

Only New York would have elected this carpetbagger. Taking Hillary seriously? For all of her education and accomplishments, she isn't a bona-fide candidate outside of NY because she will forever be known as Billy's bitch who kept her mouth shut to support her husband's career. Hillary is a trailer-park wife who alibied for her husband. She's shrewd, but she has absolutely maximized her social and political potential.

I'm no Hillary lover, but it's hard to let dreck like what was written below pass by. She was graduation speaker as an undergrad at Wesleyan, finished among the top of her class at Yale Law, and was on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review. She was elected Senator of New York. My understanding is that there's not too many folks in politics that are her intellectual equal, including her husband. So keep telling yourself that she's just some dumb, lucky broad... that's certainly a lot easier than discussing the facts.

Its funny how people just assume that this gal has so much going for her just because she is a senator. I guess they are forgetting that her fame came simply because her husband schtupped an intern, got caught and she handled it with dignity. Without that she would be just another white house wife making appearances at charity events and holding onto the Presidents arm...I guess that qualifies you to be a President! PLEASE!

She has what it takes to become a U.S. president. She has done a good job as a Senator in my state. She works hard, she's disciplined, smart, organized. Those qualities are reasons why I take her seriously.

I take her very seriously, because we have just enough ignorance in this country for people to put her in the white House.

Maybe if she wears a blue dress!

I trust her even less that I trust slick Willy!

I wonder if John Kerry took seriously her pledges to help him in his campaign.

The only possible reason to pay attention to this mean woman to is see how invention and production of issues can make a person seem to be important. Hillary has yet to develop or produce one imporant idea beyond whether the milk in the fridge is going sour. She is a cypher and a dolt - with a huge portion of self-centered need for being in control. I hope she stumbles and disappears because the US press gives her too much attention - and even Charles Manson is well known due to excessive air time.

I don't disagree with any of the previously expressed comments; however, I guess I take the question of how seriously you can take this person differently. I think that, from the standpoint of seeing her as an ambitious, power-craving person, she has to be taken very seriously. Some of the things she espouses she'd do in a heartbeat if she had the power. So, don't treat her as a joke or a lightweight; despite her many, many personal or moral, as some may see them, she's potentialy a lot of trouble.

How seriously can I take her? Well just how seriously can you take someone who marries only for political reasons, attempts to and succeeds at becoming senator for a state she's not even from, and who puts gay (special) rights ahead of so many others? Sure she's smart, tough, and obviously cunning, but that's not enough to offset her rigid, almost evil, manipulative prowess. Even though I think less of ol' SlickWillie than I do of most people, I almost pity him for having been married to such a wretch of a woman all these years..........oh wait, no I don't.

i don't doubt she is intelligent, but becoming a u.s. senator in a state where she was not a resident by using her vast experience as first lady for 8 years makes me tend to not take her seriously.

Her attitude is what has held women back for years. Defending a man who hurt her, betrayed her trust, and cheated on her. What sort of role model is that?

Cannot be trusted for the truth.

I honestly do not understand how anyone can take Hillary seriously - shes so transparent she could use Windex as a bath product. She's exudes the warmth of a corpse, screeches like a Banshee when shes irritated about something (which seems to be constantly), and has a face like a balled up fist. I wouldn't mind seeing a woman prez someday. But I'm not so desperate to see it happen that I would vote for this phony, cold-hearted harridan. Brrrr.

Her marriage to Bill was for purely political purposes. Only after he found success in politics and became Governor did she add Clinton to her last name. Prior to that, she had been known as Hillary Rodham. She doesn't love her husband, and he doesn't love her, yet still stays with him, running around defending his legacy in order to build up her liberal fanbase.