What do people mean when they say Sen Clinton is "Polarizing"?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

Do pundits, reporters, or the man in the street ever get challenged on what precisely they mean by this?

To me, someone who's polarizing means that they are radical in some way and not conciliatory, forcing you to either adopt their radical positions or be their enemy.

I don't much care for HRC but I view her as the opposite of "polarizing": she has a tendency to equivocate, play the middle, accomodate and compromise.

To me, the media "HRC is polarizing" is an inaccurate and sloppy shorthand for "Republicans and right wingers don't like her". (As a result of well over a decade of demonizing and propaganda campaigns against her.)

[Deja Q]

1. Well, she says "unlimited H1Bs" then says "I want to help the middle class".

Wait, that's being divisive. My wrong, sorry...

:hide:

[loveangelc]

2. they mean some people love her and a lot of people hate her

which is true.

[Deja Q]

4. ah, thanks...

I just don't know what to think of her. Right now let's just say I'd rather not see her get the nomination.

[Double T]

8. Hillary wants it BOTH WAYS ALL the time, which is IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Talking about the ULTIMATE POLITICIAN!!!!! Wake Up White, Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, Green, Orange, Blue, Indigo and Violet PEOPLE!!!!

[MannyGoldstein]

14. That's Being Clintonesque - Embrace All Sides Of Every Issue

But give zero specifics.

She's FOR the Middle Class... AND she wants more H1B visas.
She's FOR nukes on the table against terrorists... AND she's against nukes on the table against terrorists.
She's FOR withdrawing troops from Iraq... AND she's for leaving troops in Iraq.

(And she's so damned good at it...)

[DURHAM D]

3. It means she has a vagina. eom

[Double T]

9. Wouldn't ever hold THAT against her. It's ALL the other corporatist STUFF!!

[BlooInBloo]

13. Yah! And who cares about that 92% progressive voting record!!!

It's all the "stuff" that somehow always goes unspecified that I hate about her!!!

YAH!!!!!

:rofl:

[emilyg]

16. LOL excellent

[Double T]

17. I worry a lot MORE about the progressive STUFF that HAS NOT been voted ON!!

:evilgrin:

[tabasco]

23. Yeah, that 8% is insignificant, right?

Voted to give madman Bush a loaded gun to invade Iraq.
Voted for the "Patriot" Act - - twice!
Voted against the First Amendment and for proposed flag-burning ban.
Voted to give criminal Bush regime more power to wiretap cell phones.
60% rating from ACLU on protecting civil rights (who cares about civil rights anyway?).

I'd call Hillary anything but a progressive.

[MannyGoldstein]

38. She Votes Left On All Of The Small Stuff, And Goes Right On The Few Biggest Issues

Like going to war with Iraq, the first awful bankruptcy bill, her cheerleading for permanent 'free' trade status for China amd NAFTA, and so forth.

This way she can claim a progressive record when dealing with the rabble - but her patrons in the Predator Class know she's really delivering the goods.

[tabasco]

5. By constantly pandering to the right, she divides rather than unites.

"Tendency to equivocate" is a great way to describe her lack of leadership.

Every decision is calculated for political gain.

[Robson]

20. BINGO!

Up until your post I was not able to succinctly capture and explain my feelings about Hillary.

I believe she is smart ..... but extremely calculating. I like and respect the former, but really despise the latter. She's been calculating how to become the POTUS for over 15 years, and there is something about that, that sticks in my craw, and I don't like the feel of it.

I want a POTUS that has spent a lifetime believing they have something to offer the country, not someone who has spent a lifetime coveting the position of POTUS because of what it will do for them. Call me everything but late for dinner, but Hillary comes across again as the latter. I just don't trust her. AND the Bush dynasty was more than enough as far as dynasties in the Whitehouse.

[leftchick]

30. yes, exactly right!

I also see a lack of mention about how she has totally alienated the whole progressive part of the Democratic party. I mean REAL progressives.

[NashVegas]

6. It's HRC's Media Critics & Republican Strategists Who Are Polarizing

It's a strategy to divide (and conquer) people by putting them into separate groups and pitting them against each other.

[IDemo]

7. I take it to mean as in magnetic polarization

Iron particles or voters will tend to gravitate towards one end or the other in its (her) presence, even if they were normally situated towards the middle.

[BlooInBloo]

10. Divisively love her or hate her.

[TahitiNut]

11. Every cathode needs an anode.

:shrug:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

12. it only means she has rizing Polas.

nothing that a three week course of steroids and anti-biotics can't fix.

seriously, she pisses people off, yet at other times, she has grace and warmth. I have a problem with her stemming back to when I first met her. She was neither truthful, nor believable, just aggrssively self promoting. Has that changed? dunno.

I do know that anyone (bill, hill, romney, tancredo, brownblack, hell, most of the GOP) who polls repeatedly for position statements, who leads from behind, who tests the water before deciding on a position is not a candidate for me. Period.

[diva77]

15. It means she's the perfect candidate for Murdoch to boost so he can crush her

with his media juggernaut if she becomes the nominee - she's the only Dem. that could possibly cause the election to be close due to the attraction/repulsion she provokes - whether deserved or not; and with all of the other Repug cheating tactics, it means a Repug may be the next "pResident" -- please, let's not nominate Hillary.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

19. Trivia question: The only reason vicious GOPers would support a Dem candidate is...

:-)

[Sarah Ibarruri]

18. It means that some people love her and some hate her

It means that people don't have a middle-of-the-road feeling about her.

The problem comes with who she is making happy, and who she isn't making happy. That will be the key to this whole thing.

[The Vinyl Ripper]

21. I'm not sure what the pundroids say about Hillary

But my thoughts are that there aren't as many people that are neutral with Hillary than with most Democratic candidates. Among reasonably aware Democrats, Hillary is a polarizing figure.

And lord knows the right hates her.

[MODemocrat]

22. A lot of this is coming right straight from the Democrats as well

DU is just chocked full of Hillary Haters; whom I assume are Democrats.It's rediculous for people to say she's polarizing, but yet have no explanation for it.
You wouldn't want me to print on this forum what I think of most of the Democratic candidates, but
since I want to win the presidency away from the fascists, my mouth stays out of it. Nothing could be
worse than having another Bush or a carbon copy of him win the presidency. :scared: :thumbsdown:

[MADem]

24. Gee, another "wide eyed innocent" question. I don't find her especially polarizing.

I don't find Obama or Edwards terribly polarizing, either.

They're all liberals, in the big scheme. Though not liberal enough, in some cases, for the one-issue teams.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

29. Well if you're going to accuse me of trolling, perhaps you should just say so directly.

:eyes:

[MADem]

31. No, not "trolling." That ain't it. But if you thought that post would do anything other than

incite divisive, shitty, comments, and get people pissed at one another, I've got a bridge for sale that is right up your alley.

Trolling is quite different from flamebait, from what I understand.

:eyes: indeed.

[EFerrari]

33. This thread might have the benefit of alerting us to one of the memes

being used over and over to bash a Democrat. I don't appreciate HRC but it annoys me no end to hear this over and over from the whore media.

[MADem]

35. It's the same old shit. Obama is not black enough/too black or inexperienced rather than

a person with fresh ideas. Edwards is too rich, never mind he grew up poor. Or his wife is TOO sick with cancer to be a "good" first lady. Richardson--too "spicky"--that Whiteboy name ain't foolin' NO ONE! And he's FAT, too!

I should probably pull out the :sarcasm: icon for the twitchy finger alert tools who are viciously irony-impaired.

Yeah, really. Who gives a shit? Fuck their actual POLITICS. Fuck learning about their actual, not perceived, stances on the issues. Who cares what they really stand for? Let's repeat bullshit, served to us on a silver tray by Rupert Murdoch. Let's talk about the Paris Hiltonesque qualities they all possess. Over and over and over and over and over and over again....

[EFerrari]

37. This is why I don't watch the debates or any of the talk shows.

I cannot stand any of them or the way we're fed this cr@P!

[justinaforjustice]

25. I Understand "Polarizing" but "Triangulating" Confuses Me, Help?

There are a fairly large number of people who strongly dislike Senator Clinton, many more than "strongly dislike any of the other Democratic candidates. That's why they call her polarizing. I do think, however, that although she hasn't won me to her fold, it does appear that she is over-coming some of this polarizing negativity.

The expression frequently used to criticize Clinton,"triangulating" confuses me. Can anyone give some concrete examples of Clinton's "triangulation"?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

27. It just refers to "testing the wind" to determine the most politically expedient

position, such as on Iraq.

[ladym55]

26. Want to bring money to the right--tell them it's to defeat Hillary

During the last two years of my very conservative mom's life, all of her right-wing, hate-filled junk mail came to my house. Trust me. Hillary is "polarizing" in the sense that the right HATES her with a passion that won't quit. Every group sent my mom hate Hillary mail. "Hillary and Bill plan to create one-world government." "Help us fund our legal defense against Bill and Hillary." "Stop Bill and Hillary's plan for world domination!" This was what I fed the landfill on a daily basis. I'm surprised my mailbox didn't melt.

Rupert and Co. want Hillary as the Democratic nominee. They'll be able to raise millions against her in a heartbeat. When I think polarizing, I think how easily the right can activate their base against her and defeat her.

[EFerrari]

28. People don't say that, the presstitutes do. n/t

[screembloodymurder]

32. It's 50/50.

50% hate her cause she's Hillary and 50% love her cause the other 50% hate her.

[gumby]

34. "Polarizing" is a Media Whore term

that Only applies to Democrats. When has the press constantly used that term since President Clinton?

sfexpat2000 is on the mark!!!

Golly Gee, Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Condi.....etc... are NOT "polarizing"??????

These a-holes have "polarized" the ENTIRE WORLD AGAINST the USA.

"Polarization" is a Presstitute Term.

[Katherine Brengle]

36. She has a vagina?

I dunno.

[Lindsey]

39. ladym55 hit it spot on imho...That's exactly what it's about... n/t

[BoneDaddy]

40. It means she evokes no median response

people either like her (one pole) or don't like her (other pole). She does not bring an equator so to speak. I happen to, like many here, do not like her for many good reasons.