The publisher of a Pittsburgh newspaper known for his aggressive opposition to Bill Clinton's administration wrote Sunday that he was pleasantly surprised by his meeting last week with Hillary Clinton.

Richard Mellon Scaife, who had been dubbed by the former first lady as the head of the "vast right-wing conspiracy," wrote that he's not ready to endorse the Democratic candidate, but her knowledge and self-confidence have made him rethink his views of her.

Recounting how Clinton entered the newspaper's doors last Tuesday to speak with the editorial board on the very day that the newspaper had criticized her, the conservative billionaire wrote that "a lesser politician -- one less self-assured, less informed on domestic and foreign issues, less confident of her positions -- might well have canceled the interview right then and there. Sen. Clinton came to the Trib anyway and, for 90 minutes, answered questions. Her meeting and her remarks during it changed my mind about her."

Scaife added that it is refreshing to see Clinton exhibit political and personal courage as well as a command of "today's most pressing domestic and international issues."

Scaife, who unnerves some conservatives with countervailing positions on abortion and the war in Iraq, said he still wants to hear from Barack Obama before his newspaper endorses a candidate in Pennsylvania's April 22 primary.

But, he wrote, "I have a very different impression of Hillary Clinton today than before last Tuesday's meeting -- and it's a very favorable one indeed."

Click here to read Richard Mellon Scaife's editorial in the Pittsburgh Review-Tribune.