Being a supporter of Israel, I think it's a good thing if Hamas comes to political power. Nothing will bring them to utter powerlessness as becoming politicians. Some constituents will want this, other will want that, lobbyists will offer money to vote this way, outright bribes will make them vote that way. If they pay attention to business, jobs, education, they will do right by the voters. If they don't and pay attention only to terrorism, corruption and Arafatism, they will lose followers and influence, just as Fatah has.

hamas - stage diving
Flickr Photo by: aslmusl.

CS Monitor,
Why Hamas is gaining in Palestinian polls

NABLUS, WEST BANK. Speaking easy English and shaking the hand of male and female visitors alike, Adli Yaish is hardly the typical face of Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Rather, the new mayor of Nablus embodies a cadre of Hamas 'spinoffs.' Gone are the full beards and fiery religious rhetoric. Absent are assertions that all Israel is a 'Zionist entity' that Muslims must destroy.

Saying they are inspired by - though not in lock step with - Hamas's militant core, politicians like Mr. Yaish have come to the fore in the group's first campaign for national representation. And when Palestinians vote in Wednesday's legislative elections, analysts say, it's Hamas's more moderate tone, as well as disillusionment with the ruling Fatah Party, that will yield the group significant gains."