Doubts
The Washington Post has an article about Hillary Clinton that doesn't exactly communicate enthusiasm for a presidential run.
"I think she's a little hard," she said. "She may be strong, but at the same time, if you're driven sometimes you're perceived as not having sympathy. And perception is reality for most of us."
It is a reality that Clinton's advisers are confronting as they seek to position the former first lady for a possible 2008 presidential run. They expect that any campaign would begin after this fall's election, in which Clinton, a Democrat, is running for a second Senate term from New York.
Never has a politician stepped onto a presidential stage before an audience of voters who already have so many strong and personal opinions about her, or amid arguments that revolve around the intangibles of personality and the ways people react to it.
Clinton's assets are formidable: an unrivaled ability to generate publicity and money, and approval ratings that are notably strong, given her polarizing reputation and the controversies she has weathered over 15 years in the national eye. In recent public opinion polls, she handily leads potential Democratic rivals.
Beneath these positives, however, there is evidence of unease — about her personal history, demeanor and motives — among the very Democratic and independent voters she would need to win the presidency.
A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll highlighted the paradox. Fifty-four percent of those responding view her favorably, and a significant majority give her high marks for leadership (68 percent), strong family values (65 percent), and being open and friendly (58 percent). At the same time, only 37 percent of Democrats in the poll say they would definitely vote for her for president.
A Gallup poll from last summer also highlighted a perception that she is too divisive, with 53 percent of respondents saying they do not view her as someone who would "unite the country and not divide it."
Basically, Hillary has a problem. The left thinks she's too far to the right, the right thinks she's much too left and the center thinks there is something packaged about her. So by trying to skate the middle course, she looks phony to the voters she most needs to win. That's not a good sign, I think. Add to that the dismal record Senators have for getting elected president, and I am really not sure how far past Iowa Hillary would get.
By Ray Bearfield, Wednesday, 12 July , 2006 @ 11:17 pm
We read that “She will define herself, and we will have the money to do it,” said one close adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Clinton has forbidden those close to her to speculate publicly about 2008. “People have to get to know her, know that she was once a Republican, that she’s a big Methodist. . . . That will happen.”
There’s the problem. A carefully staged presentation offered in the guise of a non-comment that places her perfectly where she feels she needs to be — understanding of Republicans and possessed of faith. That kind of cynical triangulation is an obvious source of the distrust so many feel for her. And let’s don’t even think about Iraq or her support of legislation that would make us preserve forever our Fourth of July picnic napkins.
By Gaius, Thursday, 13 July , 2006 @ 5:23 am
I didn’t even mention that line because it was such an obvious stage-managed thing. In fact it’s so clumsey, I’m surprised they blundered it out. Of course, that may be why the reporter used it.
By Gary, Thursday, 13 July , 2006 @ 6:53 am
Hillary is the polar opposite of Bill. He oozes warmth and charm (whether you buy it or not). She is an ice queen. You can see the political gears churning in her head. That quality - for a woman or a man - puts a Presidential candidate at a serious disadvantage.
If she didn’t have the name and the good will of many Democrats toward her husband, we wouldn’t even be considering her for 2008.
By FormerRighty, Thursday, 13 July , 2006 @ 10:43 am
There was a great documentary about the 1992 New Hampshire primary called Feed.
The two people who came across as genuine people in that movie were Hillary Clinton and Paul Tsongas.
It will be very difficult for Hillary Clinton to win the nomination in 2008–she’s been far too supportive of Bush’s Iraq Folly.