Clinton: Hillary would be an ‘excellent president’

Separately, Biden says senator would be formidable candidate in 2008

Manish Swarup / AP

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton took part in a gathering entitled "India Tomorrow 2005, Perceptions Versus Reality" in New Delhi, India, on Saturday.

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updated 2:26 p.m. ET Feb. 28, 2005

TOKYO - Former President Clinton said Sunday that his wife, Hillary, would be an excellent choice as the first female leader of the world’s most powerful nation.

In an interview with Japan’s TV Asahi, Clinton said he did not know whether his wife, the senator of New York state, has any plans to one day run for the presidency.

“I don’t know if she’ll run or not,” he told the network, but added, “She would make an excellent president, and I would always try to help her.”

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Separately on Sunday, Sen. Joseph Biden said Senator Clinton would be incredibly difficult to beat if she decides to run for president.

Clinton has said she plans to run for re-election as New York senator in 2006. Speculation has periodically surfaced, however, that the 57-year-old former first lady may have her sights set for the presidency in 2008.

Results from a U.S. poll released last week showed that six in 10 American voters believe the United States is ready for a female president.

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Will Sen. Clinton run? Can she win?

‘Very, very good president’
Fifty-three percent thought Hillary Clinton should try for the job, according to the survey by the Siena College Research Institute and sponsored by Hearst Newspapers.

“If she did run and she was able to win, she’d make a very, very good president,” Clinton said Sunday. “I think now she’s at least as good as I was.”

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Clinton was in Japan on a three-day visit to attend an international forum organized by the Asahi newspaper and to promote a Japanese-language edition of his best-selling memoir “My Life.”

Biden, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said all the Democrats need to worry about Clinton.

“I think she’d be incredibly difficult to beat,” the Delaware Democrat said. “I think she is the most difficult obstacle for anyone being the nominee.”

He added, “She is likely to be the nominee. She’d be the toughest person and I think Hillary Clinton is able to be elected president of the United States.”

Biden said he is himself is thinking about running again, 20 years after his first failed bid for the White House because “there’s a lot at stake.”