Why do so many Americans view Hillary unfavorably?

[Lone_Wolf]

I think they see a panderer with no convictions. Any thoughts?

[randr]

1. While the criticism from the right has not always been justified

it has grown old.

[Cheese Sandwich]

2. Vast right wing conspiracy!

[EndElectoral]

3. too many lies

[Kokonoe]

4. She knows how the world works.

But so do we, its not a secret, and we don't like it.

[Armstead]

7. Perfect answer

[Kalidurga]

5. I think the real question is why don't all Americans view Hillary unfavorably

The media has given her so much cover that her favorability scores are actually a lot higher than they should be.

[FreakinDJ]

51. Gender Voters

[dchill]

52. Actually, they're at a new all time low.

With "media" you answer your own question.

[VulgarPoet]

62. Identity politics.

[Marrah_G]

6. "more of the same" has never inspired anyone.

I think they see her as part of the problem in Washington. I also think that in a democracy when you behave (or your campaign does) as if you are inevitable and people's choice is just an afterthought it rubs people the wrong way.

It is not her turn. She hasn't won anything yet. In my opinion she came at this race believing it was a formality. That does not sit well with people.

[geek tragedy]

8. 25 years of rightwing demonization surely

have NOTHING to do with it.

[islandmkl]

9. the Clintons made it easy for them...

which has nothing to do with why her favor-ability numbers are so low...

why don't her supporters ask why she can't get them up?

or are you just laying this at the feet of the 'stupid, uninformed, etc.' electorate?

[geek tragedy]

12. She was very popular as Secretary of State

Bernie Sanders has certainly played a role by bombarding his followers with emails etc about how evil she is. Her numbers went south when he entered the race.

Once we're free of him angrily trying to paint her as Nixon on steroids, her numbers will go back up gradually.

[islandmkl]

14. so her numbers have only gone down in the past year or so...

after the previous, what did you say, "25 years of rightwing demonization..."...and that it is only because of Bernie that her current numbers are so bad...

'her numbers will go back up gradually..."...just like any object does once it hits a bottom...it bounces up...a little...

blame everyone but Hillary...that sounds like a winning argument...

we'll all keep track wen your post(s) start touting the fact that Hillary has climbed up past zero...post often, please...wouldn't want to miss it...

[geek tragedy]

15. Do you favor her or Trump in a general election matchup? nt

[islandmkl]

18. is that a choice that needs to made made on 4/17/16?

you ought to stick to who YOU will vote for if it isn't YOUR primary pick this November...

because that is how it works...don't you know?

[geek tragedy]

25. If you don't know the answer, you don't belong here.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. Her approval ratings were in the mid to high sixties when she was SOS.

If somebody thinks I am making it up they should cite a poll to correct me.

Oh, I see the e-mails are being flogged...If she wasn't running for pres this would be a non-story.


The attacks on her from the right and the fringe left have taken a toll.

[geek tragedy]

32. Tuesday we begin closing down one of those fronts nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

34. If she had consistently low approval ratings her nemeses would have a point but she didn't

http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/hillary-clinton-favorable-rating

[islandmkl]

58. YOU have no room to say anything remotely like that...

i don't know how old you are...your posts don't reveal much maturity...but i DO know this:

you have no evidence of base core DEMOCRATIC PARTY principles except Third Way/old-DLC 'evolution'...

YOUR party will have its day, in fact it probably already has and is heading for its last hurrah...

about voting: only an asshole thinks it's any of his/her business who anyone else is going to vote for...you remind me of the 'my way or the highway' kind of people we have been fighting against for a lifetime...and apparently they are not all Republicans...your type is too busy chasing the money to swallow tear gas or get your head smacked in protest...

you like things as they are, that is apparent...many of us Democrats, and there are more of us than you can possibly admit to yourself, are working for the changes...

[geek tragedy]

68. if you can't say that you'd prefer the Democratic nominee to Donald Trump

you do not belong here.

This is a progressive, DEMOCRATIC website. People who are okay with Trump defeating the Democratic nominee don't give a fug about anyone else.

[islandmkl]

76. you just don't get it, do you?

I don't have to choose Trump and I don't have to take a fucking loyalty oath...

especially to Third Way RepublicanLite™ DINO's...

you are in the wrong party, probably the right forum for you to spread your bullshit, but you are not a Democrat...

you are whatever the Third Way has evolved...

but...you are about half-assed amusing, I'll give you that...

[hedda_foil]

17. Sorry, but Bernie's campaign has NEVER emailed, mailed or distributed anything like that.

I get all the emails as most of us do. The reasons put up by Hillary's team and. fans completely misread why we're not hilaryous for Hillary because you automatically believe that anything that's negative about your candidate is a right wing lie.

[Duval]

41. I have never received an email from Sanders saying that.

Why do you make stuff up like this? I really don't understand.

[aikoaiko]

43. Let's see some of those emails. I get all of them and don't see what you are describing

Maybe you've seen different emails.

Put up or....

[XemaSab]

53. She's the one calling herself Nixon on steroids

[LadyHawkAZ]

65. Link? I've received nothing like that n/t

[geek tragedy]

69. you finally changed your avatar. nt

[LadyHawkAZ]

71. Yeah, I stopped actively supporting after the NV caucus mess

when I got a firsthand look at what her campaign was up to.

[geek tragedy]

73. cool story nt

[LadyHawkAZ]

75. yawn

It's a good thing reality doesn't require your approval.

[still_one]

38. It is a bullshit question geek. It is like asking, when did you stop beating your wife.

So far Hillary has won these primaries:

Iowa, Nevada, South Carolina, Alabama, American Samoa, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachussetts, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Northern Mariana Islands, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Arizona

The upcoming primaries in April, according to the polls are favoring Hillary.

So what are we saying, any state that Hillary won doesn't count?

So supporters who vote for Hillary don't count, only those who have an "unfavorable feeling count"

Here is my response to those who push that theme:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141419098

[Kang Colby]

10. 25 years of vicious right wing attacks. n/t

[wendylaroux]

20. she and the mr. have THE worst luck!!!!

[JudyM]

36. Everything she's ever "achieved" has been so authentically for the people. By the way, can you

name a few things she's achieved that have been so great for the public interest? I'm drawing a blank...

[rachacha]

11. Because we have Youtube

[farleftlib]

56. ^^Thread winner right here^^

"Because we have Youtube."

[Bjornsdotter]

13. Not just Americans

I know a lot of people overseas who are cheering Bernie on.

[Art_from_Ark]

60. Americans in Japan are feeling the Bern

87% of the expats who voted in the Democrats Abroad primary in Japan voted for Bernie

[islandmkl]

16. about the rightwing attacks...

i didn't get burned because someone yelled 'FIRE!'...

i got burned when i was handed the burning stick...

[Jitter65]

19. Because Bernie supporters keep telling them to. Repeat a fabrication, repeat, repeat, repeat.

Soon it becomes truth to many people. That is how Rush did it for years and years with his ditto heads. No thinking involved. Just keep telling your brain the same thing over and over.

[basselope]

21. They've seen her on too many different sides of too many issues.

[tech3149]

22. I can only speak for myself

My knowledge of her biography indicates that the driving force in her life is personal ambition. She has always found a way to enmesh herself with the centers of power and influence. I think the same can be said of most of the political class as well as the professional class, and I don't like them much either.
The contrast between her and most in DC or political power circles and Sen Sanders is blindingly obvious.
The fact that most of these candidates are even spoken of is a tribute to the influence of the corporate media disinformation network.

[Brother Buzz]

23. Credit the right-wing echo machine....

which effectively bashed her and the Big Dog for the last twenty-five years

[doc03]

24. She has been under attack by the right for 25 years and now

we have the Sanders people attacking her.

[RufusTFirefly]

46. Stop the guilt by association

Just because right wing loonies oppose Hillary doesn't mean that anyone who opposes her is a right wing loony.

I oppose her because with the exception of a handful of vital social issues (some of which she has conveniently "evolved" on), her views are antithetical to my own. I am a proud progressive, and it would be risible to suggest otherwise (although I'm sure that won't stop you from doing so).

I was adamantly against the illegal Iraq invasion. There was abundant evidence that the arguments for war were fraudulent. She voted for it. Her explanation for why she did so is unbelievably lame. As was her tepid apology. (Oops! Sorry about all the dead people!)

I strongly opposed the PATRIOT (sic) ACT, which I see as a flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment. She voted for it. (She also co-sponsored another appallingly un-Constitutional bill, one that would've criminalized flag-burning.)

Hillary Clinton is an unrepentant hawk. She has been identified as such by people of great international respectability, such as Jeffrey Sachs. Meanwhile, she gets the support and advice from truly dangerous and despicable characters, such as Robert Kagan (co-founder of PNAC) as well as war criminal Henry Kissinger.

Throughout her career, Hillary has strongly supported "free trade" (sic), that is until Sanders shined an unflattering light on this support and she suddenly started backpedaling, hoping that the American people haven't been paying attention to her positions for the past 20 years or so.

She claims to be against Citizens United and yet in the meantime she benefits from millions in SuperPAC cash. The alleged "pragmatists" among us suggest that given the current system, she has no choice. Sanders has easily proven that pathetic rationalization is utter horseshit.

She supports the death penalty. I adamantly oppose it. Moreover, I find her apparent delight in the death of Qaddafi to be truly creepy.

I could go on for paragraphs, but since you're unlikely to change your mind based on my post, I'm not going to waste any more time.

[VulgarPoet]

63. Preach, Rufus.

The PATRIOT Act is an Orwellian cancer, supported by the same hawkish nature that got scores of our servicemen and women killed.

[pkdu]

26. Why do so many Bernie supporters post so much Right Wing horseshit multiple times per day

every day , instead of trying to post positive posts about their favored candidate ? Enquiring minds want to know.

[CorkySt.Clair]

37. But it's Hillary supporters who are slurred as paid shills

[pkdu]

40. Yep , I manage an hour at most in day/ evenings....these ones mange full shifts. Nt

[Duckhunter935]

27. I agree

Camp weathervane is so true.

[egalitegirl]

28. Partners of the Bush family

One reason is that the Clintons and Bushes are partners and work together on projects like the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. People don't view such partnerships favorably especially when the positions of Clintons and Bushes on wars are identical.

[Larkspur]

29. Clintons triangulate and triangulation is a fancy term for lying

While the Right Wing throws everything they can against the Clintons, they are like moths attracted to a flame. They put themselves in positions easy for Republicans to attack them. Like Bills philandering. HRC's personal email server, while not illegal, set her up for attacks about transparency and trustworthiness.

[still_one]

30. Why don't you ask the question of every DUer, "when did they stopped beating their wife?"

I guess all those Hillary supporters don't count, huh?

[CharlotteVale]

33. The only thing she stands for is enriching herself.

No matter what it takes.

[BillZBubb]

35. She's a money grubber and a phony.

She'll be on whichever side of an issue gives her the most personal advantage. She's not a leader, she's an evolver.

[Armstead]

39. That's an invitation to writers cramp

[Duval]

47. Armstead

That is hilarious and also true!

[Vinca]

42. First and foremost it is her lack of authenticity.

She always seems to be enacting the role of candidate. Everything appears scripted and plotted out with opinions subject to change if the need arises. She admits she's not a natural politician and that's an understatement.

[tabasco]

44. You pretty much hit the nail on the head.

She rose to fame due to marriage, not hard work. She is a weak and deeply flawed candidate.

[oberliner]

45. How many one-line Hillary insult threads have you got running right now?

Is there any point to posting these?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

48. The have the ability to see, listen, and think. Add common sense to the mix and voila!

[chknltl]

49. The right wingers because of Fox News....

...for instance. We on the left who don't like her have reasons that hardly match up to what the hate mongers who program Fox News propagandize their viewers with. Many of us on the left are tired of politicians who support a government Of By and For the highest bidders!

If you think about it, the right wing electorate has been programed to believe that Trickle Down Economics is a good thing. In T.D.E., the government is expected to let Big Buisness call the shots, government is supposed to get out of the way in such a system. For this reason conservative voters think it's a great idea to lower taxes on EVERYONE!

We on the left are against T.D.E. we expect everyone to have a fair chance at the American Dream. For this reason we on the left are at the very least wary of politicians who may be beholden to big corporations.

This is all known here at DU. My point, contrary to what is being repeated here in DU, very few of us are being swayed by the right wing echo chamber of hate directed against Hillary. Those points are designed to appeal to a fully different mindset.

Our mistrust stems instead for reasons that run contrary to that right wing mindset. I can not speak for everyone on the left but for many of us our Hillary 'mistrust' (hate is a tad strong i think), stems from her close associaton with the oligarchy. We simply don't want that style of government. If we are quick to point to it as a problem with right wing politicians why wouldn't it make sense to point it out as a problem in our own party?

Truth be told, I find it quite insulting to be compared to right wingers in the manner I've been hearing at DU. I don't need the right wing to give me my talking points-talking points I wouldn't agree with anyway, I can think for myself thank you.

[uponit7771]

50. Millions of tax payer dollars spent for the sole purpose of reducing her poll numbers? You know that

... already though

[LibDemAlways]

54. Why I view her unfavorably (in her own words):

"It's what they offered." --Hillary on accepting hundreds of thousands for speeches to corrupt bankers.

She is simply clueless about how entitled, elitist, and out of touch that response sounds to a person like me who struggles by on Social Security and part-time work as an underpaid substitute teacher. Plus, she pals out with criminals like the Bushes and Kissinger. My mom always told me I would be known by the company I keep. That's a big problem for HRC.

[XemaSab]

55. Everything seems like it was run through a focus group then rehearsed ad nauseum

I can see her sitting on the can with a bunch of index cards labeled Choice, Wall Street, NAFTA, Fracking, and so forth.

"If someone asks about fracking... um... I got this! If someone asks about fracking, say that climate change is a looming threat and we need to transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energies such as wind and solar! Yeah!"

:flush:

I have no sense of what she believes on any issue, or even if she has personal beliefs on a lot of issues.

She's "evolved" on so many things that shouldn't need "evolving" on, like gay marriage, and she hasn't "evolved" on things that she should have "evolved" on, like the death penalty.

Bernie, meanwhile, has clearly spent the last several decades mulling over where he stands on a lot of issues.

I don't doubt that he held similar beliefs 50 years ago to those he holds today.

History has caught up to him.

[bjo59]

57. Perhaps because she sees the total destruction of other people's countries

as "a good business opportunity"?

[Lil Missy]

59. Decades of right wing manufactured crises. Which are seized upon and repeated by far-left purists.

[potone]

64. It is not that simple.

It is true that she and her husband were subjected to a lot of right-wing smears that were totally unjustified--Whitewater being the most obvious example--but she has her own problems with voters that are not because of those attacks. Many people simply do not agree with the way that the Democratic party has shifted to the right over the last decades, and it began with Bill Clinton. The consequences of his policies, which she has not disavowed, have been disastrous for most Americans, and she seems to offer more of the same.

To simply dismiss her critics as "far left purists" is to miss the point that the Democratic party no longer, except for some social issues, seems to represent the interests of most Americans. That is why, even ignoring her many changes of positions, many Democrats do not support her.

I agree, however, that there is a visceral hatred of her on the part of Republicans that is really not rational and has more than a small amount of misogyny at its base. They also hated her husband precisely because he took away issues like the so-called Welfare Reform from them. The real reason that the Republican politicians hated him was, quite simply, because he is a Democrat. What frightens me the most about them is that they feel entitled to rule and are angry when pesky voters decide otherwise, no doubt because they know that they are not representing our interests and don't like it that we know that.

[GreatGazoo]

61. Because they have ears and memory (?)

If it weren't for those two things she would be fine.

[randome]

66. It's become fashionable in some circles.

Either Clinton or Sanders will make a fine President. We should be supporting both instead of hating one or the other. And viewing Clinton as 'unfavorable' does not hide the notion that it is hate, not just policy disagreements.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one you’re already in.[/center][/font][hr]

[betsuni]

67. Because Americans are "almost touchingly literal."

Bill Bryson quote. Many Americans are literal thinkers, mindlessly believe rumors and propaganda, don't read, are anti-intellectual, take everything personally, can't discuss politics without emotion. Really embarrassing. Thinking Hillary Clinton is a pandering Satan is as stupid as demonizing public school teachers or your accountant. Idiots.

[Puglover]

70. I am sick of the Bushes.

And sick of the Clintons. We have 300 million + people in this country.

Just go away already.

[whatchamacallit]

72. They're sick and tired of say-anything-do-anything establishment bullshit artists

[oberliner]

74. Relentless demonization of her from the right wing for two decades

Constant attacks from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and the rest of the RW noise machine.

[Lizzie Poppet]

77. It's a "the more you know" situation.

The more you learn about Hillary Clinton, the less acceptable the idea of her in the Oval Office becomes.

?1430153051

[Orsino]

78. In part, at least, because they have been told to do so.

The TV has been pretty clear, you must admit, on what is expected of us.

I think the real reasons to oppose her candidacy are the ones the MSM won't touch.

[pdsimdars]

79. That is the one thing Hillary has actually earned.

[rock]

80. Look at all the comments by the BSers anwering your post

Notice a certain, distinct smell of what they're slinging toward Hillary? (Mostly lies I must add.) Do you think that people that don't like her maybe believe that sort of garbage? (OK, so they are uninformed thinkers.)

[malokvale77]

81. I can only speak for myself...

I've been living on the same planet as the Clinton's for all my life. The one positive vibe I ever felt for Hillary died a long time ago.