It’s starting to be a common view that the qualities that help a candidate win the Democratic presidential nomination are the same qualities that don’t necessarily play in Redville in the general election. After Kerry lost in ’04 I told a friend that the next Democratic candidate is going to have to “bubba up” to win. Today the stats seem to suggest that Barack Obama, who reportedly only has about 25% of likely Democratic primary-voter support, does better with the conservatives than Hillary Clinton probably will in the big election next fall. The Republicans are wetting themselves over the prospect of attacking Clinton starting in the spring.

“Among Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s formidable standing — 50% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are supporting her — is unshaken despite escalating criticism by her rivals and disappointing reviews of her performance at last week’s debate,” says an 11.8 USA Today story by Susan Page.

“But she has significant vulnerabilities,” Page writes. “Her unfavorable rating, 45%, is a dozen points higher than that of any other contender.”

Another 11.8 USA Today piece, this one by Jill Lawrence, reports that “more than eight in 10 Republicans and more than half the married men in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll say they definitely wouldn’t vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton for president.”