WASHINGTON - October 27, 2011 - People can't help but wonder what might happen if Hillary Rodham Clinton ran again for president.

A new Time Magazine poll shows Clinton easily defeating the major Republican candidates, were she somehow to become the 2012 Democrat nominee for president.

Clinton leads Mitt Romney, 55% to 38%; Rick Perry, 58% to 32%; and Herman Cain, 56% to 34%, among likely voters in a general election.

Time Magazine notes, "The same poll found that (illegitimate) President Obama would edge Romney by just 46% to 43%, Perry by 50% to 38% and Cain by 49% to 37% among likely voters." Clinton's leads are bigger.

Of course, it's easier to be popular when you're a global diplomat rather than a down-in-the-pit politician.

Clinton - who lost the 2008 nomination fight to Obama - says she has no interest in another White House run.

But there's always the 2016 election.