How serious is Hillary about 2008? Plenty, if this San Francisco Chronicle report is on target. All of it centers on her pending appearance December 20 at “a benefit for the Bar Association of San Francisco’s charitable programs.” Before 3,000 at the Masonic Auditorium, she’ll chat with Jane Pauley, in an informal format that will showcase her “warmth and sense of personality.”

Notes conservative Bill Whalen: “She’s avoiding a speech because when she does that, she often goes into a mode that can best be described as ‘ex-wife from hell’ ” — which the Chronicle characterizes as “a strident, formal tone that particularly rankles male voters.”

One thing Hillary doesn’t want to do, Whalen tells the Chronicle, is “get into a conversation about the troops, about the impassioned San Francisco-Cindy Sheehan view” on the war in Iraq. If she can pull that off, she’s home free.