Caught a joint public appearance on C-SPAN last night by Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. Clinton was there in all his empathetic charm and wonkishness, rattling off stats about AIDS, getting most of the best laugh lines and providing a summary of the international situation that was comprehensive, a model of clarity, hopeful and honest. My favorite part was when he said an AIDS initiative he has set up was successful in part because it took no money directly but worked through national governments. That way, Clinton said, it could still find willing supporters in people "who can't stand me but like him [Bush]." I'm no Clinton apologist -- there's no excusing what he did -- but I still found myself thinking for a moment: Shouldn't this guy be president?

Try as I might, I have never been able to warm up to Bob Dole, and last night was no exception. He is a brave and loyal American, to be sure, but his foreign policy pronouncements were, by Clintonian standards, muddled, and an edge of meanness has always seemed to me to underlie his famous wit. Knowing what I know now, would I still have favored Clinton over Dole in '96? I guess that's one hypothetical question I would just as soon not speculate about.