I think Hillary can win in 2008 if only because the mood in the country right now is much more anti-bush than anti-hillary.
Republicans should be trying to get hillary the dem nomination because 1)she'd be the easiest to defeat 2) she's more conservative than Obama or Edwards 3) she's too polarizing to get any of her agenda passed, and polarizing enough to virtually gauruntee the GOP a good 2010
You raise some excellent points, especially the fact that Clinton is actually the most moderate of the leading Dem candidates (which I suppose Republicans will say speaks poorly of the Democratic party....but nonetheless 'tis true).
However, despite being the most moderate she is perceived as more liberal than Edwards. Most voters probably just assume that a man from the South will be more moderate than a woman from the Northeast, especially one that is so well known.
Clinton definitely has some strong negatives, no doubt about it. Her winning the nomination guarantees that the GOP base will be energized. So it frees the Republicans to nominate Giuliani, as the religious right will be willing to put up with him just to stop Clinton. If anyone other than Clinton wins the Dem nomination, the GOP base probably won't be willing to tolerate Giuliani, and will insist on Thompson or Romney instead (more likely Thompson because he's not a Mormon).
I agree that the only winnable Presidential matchup for the GOP among the possible races between leading contenders is Giuliani vs. Clinton. The great thing for the Republicans about Clinton being nominated is that the GOP base hates her so viscerally that the party doesn't have to pander to them one iota and is free to run as far to the middle as necessary to woo swing voters.
However, Clinton still would have an excellent chance of winning due to the fact that Giuliani is basically a Bush clone on the war, and Bush's strong negatives will pull down any GOP candidate significantly, especially one that is closely aligned with him on the biggest issue of the election. Giuliani's best hope would be for Bush to end the war before the election, or at least commit to a firm timetable. This would take the issue off the table, and while it would normally anger and deflate the GOP base, they'd still turn out strongly just to stop Clinton.
Clinton also has the most experience of the leading Dems (not counting Richardson here as a leading contender). She's the least likely to have any new skeletons in her closet, and the least likely to say or do something stupid.
By all accounts she is articulate, and a good debater as well.
