Shifting Republican field

I didn't watch the Republican debate in Florida last night, but I heard some interesting discussion on Morning Joe today. They seemed to agree that Giuliani is done (see photo). He wasn't attacking anyone last night and they think he's trying to salvage his place in the party. Also much discussion of how advantageous to the Romney campaign it's been for the economy to have risen as a major political concern, since that's the issue he has the most credibility with.

More interesting to me is the way the debate was mostly a Hillary-bashing fest. What's up with that? I tend to think this is a ploy - they've wanted us to believe that they really want to run against her, b/c she unites the Republican party. But on the other hand, their behavior suggests that they're trying to influence the Dems to reject Hillary. I can't believe that they prefer to run against Obama - he's young, fresh, handsome, well-spoken, the candidate of HOPE, and who wants to walk the tightrope of race for the many months of the campaign? I can just see the dynamic Barack matched with the decrepit McCain. However, now I'm reconsidering. Maybe they think they can more easily beat Barack. Or maybe it's a briar patch thing, and they really want to face Hillary in the fall.

Actually, I don't know what to think anymore.

I had been thinking that McCain wouldn't have much of a chance in the general, but now I'm not so sure - his greatest obstacle has always been the primary b/c he doesn't have the support of the religious wing of the party. But if he can get the Republican nomination, he would get many independents and traditional (read non-evangelical) conservative votes. Hmmm.