The title of John Podhoretz's new book is " Can She Be Stopped? Hillary Clinton Will Be the Next President of the United States Unless..." and it looks to be a must read for all of us who love to play the 2008 parlor game. Today we're running an excerpt from the book where Podhoretz makes the case that Hillary's high negative ratings may in fact be to her benefit. Here's the nut of the argument:

So if most of those with negative feelings about nominee Hillary in 2008 are already hardcore Republican voters, all her nomination will do is ensure a high Republican turnout. Of course, the kind of angry attention her nomination would receive from Republicans would allow Democrats to play ju-jitsu and make use of the very sorts of attacks Republican will level against her to enrage Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters and ensure a high turnout on their end.

Thus her high negatives, in a perverse way, could inspire passionate support from Democrats who might otherwise have lukewarm feelings about her.

Podhoretz points to the fact that Democrats rallied hard around John Kerry in 2004 despite the fact he was "a candidate no one could love." He's certainly right about that, and he's right to conclude Democrats will do the same thing again in 2008 with Hillary (or any other) nominee.

The problem with Hillary's negatives, however, is that they are so high they hurt her claim of "electability" with the base, which was the sole force that propelled Kerry to the nomination in 2004 and had so many Democrats holding their noses in November.

As I wrote about recently, the left-wing base of the party dislikes Hillary on policy grounds AND is unconvinced she can win a general election (see some reader responses to that effect here). That's a lethal combination, and it leads me to believe Democrats will do one of two things in 2008:

1) make a principled move (and also a cathartic one) and nominate a far-left liberal like Feingold and risk going down in flames or
2) go the electability route again but with someone who has a more appealing national profile like Mark Warner or John Edwards

You know the saying that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing in the same way & expecting a different outcome." I find it hard to believe that Democrats, as desperate as they are, will put their electoral life in the hands of another cold, unlikeable, arrogant, elitist Northeasterner.

Then again, Hillary's star power, fundraising, and organization are of a different order of magnitude than everyone else which is why she may end up being "unstoppable."

Either way, Podhoretz's book is must reading for political junkies who can't help but look ahead to the next race for the White House.