Today's Daily Schadenfreude (better late than never): HRC and Rudy G

It's another double shot of Daily Schadenfreude goodness tonight at Blast Off!, as the respective presidential fortunes of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) take a hit in a new poll, conducted by Marist College.

Full disclosure: I am opposed to an HRC candidacy, although I reluctantly would support her if she is the Democratic nominee. Hillary is just too polarizing a figure to win a general election: in much the same way that Katherine "Pontoons" Harris motivated and energized Democrats in Florida's 2006 U.S. Senate race, Hillary would bring every Republican voter out of the woodwork. She's far more effective, I believe, in the Senate. In short, she's unelectable.

Meanwhile, Rudy is quite popular with Republicans ... at least until they find out his positions on some key social issues:

Giuliani and Sen. John McCain of Arizona led the GOP field, with 24 percent favoring Giuliani and 23 percent backing McCain. Giuliani and McCain each led Clinton, 49 percent to 43 percent.

But when Republicans were informed that Giuliani is "a pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights Republican," 47 percent said those traditionally liberal positions would be a major factor in determining how they voted while just 22 percent said they would not be a factor.

Conservative voters hold considerable sway in the Republican presidential primaries.

God, guns, and gays: for the GOP base, it always comes down to that.

One expert, in my opinion, said it best:

"For Hillary, it is: She is acceptable to Democrats, but is she electable?" said Marist's Lee Miringoff. "For Rudy, he's electable; but is he acceptable" to Republicans deciding the nomination?

Nail. Head.

So, while I'm not slamming the coffin lid on either of their candidacies, the latest poll is enough (on a slow day for schadenfreude) to make the decision. Sen. Clinton and ex-Mayor Giuliani ... today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!