Towson, Md. — In a two-hour focus group a little over 17 months before Americans will elect a new president, 12 suburban voters — five Democrats, four Republicans and three independents — made it clear that there will be few regrets when the second term of George W. Bush is over.

Asked by respected pollster Peter D. Hart to express their feelings toward the Bush presidency in a word or phrase, the voters' answers included: "terrible," "runs roughshod over Constitution and will of American people," "under-par," "disturbing," "very stubborn, not willing to listen" and "felt really secure after 9-11, but now I'm a little nervous." Almost alone, 42-year-old Janice Rice, a dental hygienist and Republican mother of two teenage sons, defended Mr. Bush as "a man of his word" who "means well" and praised him as a "pretty honest guy."

But while these voters expressed almost a hunger for change away from Bush administration policies, most especially the unpopular U.S. invasion-occupation of Iraq, they are far from ready to commit now to replacing the incumbent with any particular Democrat. In fact, the two declared candidates who aroused the most interest in Towson were two "outsiders" — former New York Mayor Republican Rudy Giuliani and first-term U.S. senator from Illinois Democrat Barack Obama.

When asked for one word or phrase to describe Obama, the responses were remarkably positive: "smart" (twice), "charismatic," "independent," "articulate" even "phenomenal." Giuliani is widely seen as a "good leader" and "strong."

For the two early front-runners in both parties, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., the news was not so good. McCain's perceived strengths included "speaks his mind," " POW" and " moderate." But "old-line," "history" and "disappointing" were hardly positives.

For Clinton, the reviews were personally negative. To registered independent Robert Lester, 52, an insurance broker, Clinton "has a power and control problem." Dennis Yeagel, 27, a Baltimore securities analyst who leans to Obama, said of the New York senator: "I totally agree with her stances, but she just comes off as cold and kind of conniving."

After using adjectives such as "fake," 'un-genuine" and "shrill," eight of the 12 participants said that under no conditions could they vote for Hillary Clinton for president.

Peter Hart, while stressing that voters are now in the earliest stages of their decision-making and cautioning that poll numbers at this point have all the permanence of numbers written in wet sand at the ocean's edge, sees both Obama and Clinton having a "pencil" problem.

While voters are remarkably favorable in their first impressions of the young African-American from Illinois, they frankly acknowledge that they know little substantively about him and go on to express reservations about his limited experience in national office. They may see in him their hopes and dreams of a more united and more optimistic and respected America, but he needs immediately, according to Hart, to get a hold of a "No. 2 Ticonderoga" and begin "to fill in those blank spaces" before his Democratic opponents, including Clinton, do it for him.

Hart would recommend that Clinton get busy using the eraser-end of her own Ticonderoga. The negatives about her almost all deal with personality traits. Voters do not declare doubts about her talent, intellect or Senate record.

In a strange way, the worse George W. Bush does in the polls, the better it is for Rudy Giuliani, who is now seen — especially by GOP voters terrified of a 2008 Democratic sweep — as the one Republican candidate who, given the hostile electoral environment created by Bush, can win the White House.

Republicans in Towson were almost all willing to overlook Giuliani's pro-choice, pro-gay-rights-marriage and pro-gun-control stands (not even mentioning his three marriages and alienated children) because he is "a strong leader" who will keep the nation "safe," and almost certainly, because he looks like a winner.

The lesson of Towson: George W. Bush is very much Yesterday, but nobody now knows what Tomorrow will bring.

To find out more about Mark Shields and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.