Hillary Clinton may unite Republicans

By Carey Gillam

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Tom Effertz is 73 and a wheat farmer. Rosie Erganian is 52 and lives in a town on the Missouri River. He's a Republican. She's a Democrat. Both Missourians want anyone but Democrat Hillary Clinton for U.S. president.

"We're tired of the Hillary thing," Effertz said. "We'd had enough of Bill and Hillary."

"I do not like the way they've been kind of nasty," said Erganian, of Rocheport, Missouri. "I don't want anybody in office like that."

Tuesday is "Super Tuesday" when 24 states, Missouri among them, hold nominating contests for one or both parties. It is the biggest date in the six-month process to decide which of each party will face off in the November 4 election to succeed President George W. Bush.

When it comes to the November election, Missouri, home to the plain-speaking late President Harry Truman in the heart of America, has long been viewed as a bellwether, having voted for the winner in every presidential ballot except one since 1904.

The former first lady is virtually tied with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama among Democrats in Missouri, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday. Super Tuesday could be a tight race nationwide for the two Democrats.

On the Republican side Sen. John McCain leads former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in most states, but not in the big-prize state of California.

Strong anti-Clinton feeling has people in both parties speculating that if the New York senator wins the Democratic nomination she could become a powerful unifying force -- for Republicans.