"They think "she can't win" because "she doesn't appeal to moderates and independents".
Well, I think they are foxtrot oscar sierra.
But that's not even the point, let's say they are right, let's say she doesn't have a great chance to win, so what?
How do you think the next time something like 2000 comes up again (and it will, it almost happened in Ohio in 2004), a Republican Secretary of State is going to act knowing that his/her reward for standing firm is going to be a bunch of weak-kneed defeatists saying "we can't let him/her be our nominee because after 2000, all the angry Dems are going to be motivated to come out and vote against him/her"?
For my money's worth? I want my Republican nominee to be someone the Dems hated and are motivated to vote against. Because that's a sure sign we picked the right guy/gal.