"Very smart politics" includes Hillary's canny tendency to wait for others to declare before she comes forward. When the Senate, in late May '07, voted on the bill to de-fund the Iraq War, Senators Clinton and Obama were about to enter the Senate chamber at the same time to cast their votes. Hillary, according to news reports, waited for Barack to cast his vote before she came forward to cast her vote. At a candidates TV debate in July, John Edwards and Hillary - not realizing the mikes were on (sorry, the word mics doesn't look right)- commented on limiting the debate format to the top candidates. Edwards initiated the remark and Clinton agreed. Some candidates and commentators, needless to say, were mightily upset. Hillary, when later asked about her remarks, instantly referred all questions to John. Hillary has chosen to be the last of the major candidates to present a health care plan. She is able to implicitly criticize all the other health plans already presented. The press has thus far compared other candidates' health plans to Hillary's plan, as though hers is the standard to go by.