Political polls show Sen. Hillary Clinton is the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president, but some local Democrats say they are suspicious of her changing positions on the war in Iraq.

Clinton, D-New York, was originally an enthusiastic supporter of the war, but recently has turned into a critic and opposes plans to increase troop levels in Baghdad.

To some Democrats, her switch smacks of politics. They note she supported the war when it was popular and opposes it now that it is seen by many as a failure.

"I don't trust that," Democrat Sterling Alam of Attleboro said.

He said Clinton and a number of other leading Democrats, such as former Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Joe Biden have flip-flopped on the war. Alam said he wants a Democratic candidate who was against the war from the beginning, and admires U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, for his steadfast opposition.

Peter Brock of Foxboro said it is obvious to him that the presidential contenders have changed their position because it is "politically expedient."

"My gut feeling is that they were for the war because they wanted the vote and now they are against the war because they want the vote," he said.

He said there is a lot of talk among Democrats about candidates changing their views now that the war is unpopular.

But, Brock and a few other Democrats said it is now more important to them to find the candidate with the best plan to end the war than to support a candidate who was against it from day one.

"Whoever gets the nomination has to have a plan," Brock said.

Claire Naughton of Foxboro, a member of the Democratic State Committee, said she will be watching the candidates to see who supports concrete steps to stop the fighting, rather than judge them on how they voted years ago on the war.

"Now that they know it's wrong, I want to see them do something about it," she said.

Naughton said Congress should cut off funding for Bush's plan to increase troop levels.

She said she also likes Biden's plan to give the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis semi-autonomous regions within Iraq. Naughton said she protested against the war from the beginning, but her biggest problem with Clinton is her electability, not her original support for the war.

"I want the Democrat who can win. I'm originally from the Midwest, and I don't know if Hillary can win in the Midwest," she said.

Ellen Parker of Attleboro, another member of the Democratic State Committee, said she hears fellow Democrats complain that Clinton and others have switched positions.

However, Parker said she cannot judge them too harshly because they were fed bad information by the Bush administration.

"They made the best decision they could at the time. The bottom line to me is we need to get out. Who has the best plan to do that?" she said.

Arthur Kenyon was another local Democrat who stood on street corners protesting the war.

Even he gives the candidates a pass on their past support for the war.

"The people were for it. It would have been political suicide to go against it. That's the realism of politics," he said.