I'd be interested in seeing if there's different results when people vote on principle and who they would like to see win at end as compared to the "electability" of the candidate.
Well, Hillary sometimes feels a bit like Joe Lieberman to me; a D.i.N.O as it were, so while I appreciate the feminist karma and really wish the health care thing had happened in the 90s, I'm not enthused about her.
Obama... honestly I don't know much about his platform. Is it shallow to say, yeah, I think it would be cool to have a black guy as president?
I also don't feel that badly about Giuliani, who seems pretty down to earth to me. I like the way he's weathered some "scandals" in his personal life, and in general feels more like a true moderate; maybe even a bit left of where Hillary puts herself.
But still, I think "electability" is a valid concern, representing compromise in a positive sense, not as a term for capitulation.
I had a decent opinion of Guliani until the Republican Convention in 04. Overall his positions are not as corrosive as Bush's, but I lost most of my respect for him as he trotted one more trite fearmongering neo-conism after another. Seriously, check the tape, he's a Bush stooge.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=zmdl_zUg-xw
Full transcript here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/convention2004/rudygiuliani2004rnc.htm
Eh, maybe I wasn't paying much attention and am thinking of the old version.
'Course even that guy worked to take out all the smut to make Family Friendly Times Square ala Disney...