Phil I think there are two separate issues or tasks. One is to remind conservatives she won’t be easy to beat. It is not fawning to point out that she has remade herself into an image which is far more effective and will convince many Americans she is not so bad. It is not instructive or accurate to conceal that or to encourage conservatives “not to worry because she’s entirely unelectable.” That’s self-deluding. ( And worse, by painting such as extreme portrait, many will find the reality exceeds their expectations and give her the benefit of that comparison.) The second issue is to do precisely what you did (and what I and others regularly do) : listen to what she says and point out that even more so than on foreign policy, hers is a platform of extremism on domestic policy. To their credit Romney and Rudy have been doing this consistently, both because it helps them in the primary to establish their credentials with conservatives and also to prepare the ground for battle in the general election.

To that end, it would be nice if rather than ask another round of “dynasty” questions in the next debate a moderator would ask her all the items she is going to fund through the Bush tax cuts, her total list of new spending ventures and if there are any items which could be trimmed in the current budget. That would be worthwhile.