Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[André]

People and newspapers outside the US view Clinton rather favorably. Why is she considered a 'horrible person' at home ?

[Gurn Blanston]

People and newspapers outside the US view Clinton rather favorably. Why is she considered a 'horrible person' at home ?

She has been so demonized by the Republicans that even her natural support base has come to believe it. I have no problem voting for Hillary, versus a commie and a freaking loonie! (disclaimer: No Canadians were harmed in the making of that phrase, Trump really IS a loonie, no dollar coins need worry!).

[Brian]

People and newspapers outside the US view Clinton rather favorably. Why is she considered a 'horrible person' at home ?

Throughout the 90s she was portrayed as a robotic, nakedly ambitious careerist who would do anything to accumulate power, including marriage.

...so basically, she was America's Stephen Harper.

I think now at least a handful of people are starting to recognize that sexism played an accidental or intentional role in this. (There was a time when trashier Republicans joked that she was a lesbian, or even a man.) After all, one of our inherent biases is to think poorly of ambitious women, relative to how we view ambitious men. Hillary's never done anything worse than, say, Marco Rubio or Mitt Romney, but a certain segment of society still expect women to stay in a certain place and maintain a certain "ladylike" attitude. Hillary will definitely never be mistaken for Eliza Doolittle.

EDIT: To be clear, Hillary is not perfect by any means. She supports NSA spying, voted for the Iraq War, is moving to a populist position on free trade and protectionism, and occasionally makes very callous, tone-deaf remarks (I think recently a black student asked why politics wasn't more diverse and Hillary responded, "Well why don't you run for office?").

[(poco) Sforzando]

Hillary will definitely never be mistaken for Eliza Doolittle.

Not sure what this means, as Shaw's Eliza Doolittle becomes quite independent and assertive towards the end of Pygmalion. But among the criticisms of Hillary are that she's untrustworthy (apparently unlike The Donald) and lacking spontaneity (again unlike The Donald). If it's spontaneity you want, vote for Trump. Personally, I can live without all the spontaneity.

[Gurn Blanston]

EDIT: To be clear, Hillary is not perfect by any means. She supports NSA spying, voted for the Iraq War, is moving to a populist position on free trade and protectionism, and occasionally makes very callous, tone-deaf remarks (I think recently a black student asked why politics wasn't more diverse and Hillary responded, "Well why don't you run for office?").

To be clear, I also supported the Iraq war at the time, based on the facts we were given. Bernie is disingenuous when he says he was against it because it was a bad war; he was against it because he is against foreign entanglements in general and was against Bush in particular. SO even if it had been a highly justified war he would have voted against it.

I support NSA spying. Sorry about that.

Why doesn't he run for office instead of complaining about lack of diversity?

I am not being pro-Anyone here, but I have no problem with most of the things you brought up there. I am against protectionism though.

[Karl Henning]

Hillary's better than El Tupé.  (Why do I feel I just typed the equivalent of Lyme's Disease is better than Ebola?)

[Jo498]

In my impression, Clinton is viewed rather favorably in Europe because with her it will be business as usual in foreign policy.
We do not really care about your domestic mess, unless you drag down the rest of the world (like in the subprime crisis) or start WW III. She seems also the most competent and experiences in foreign policy. Furthermore a large part of Western European politicians and press usually fall in line behind the Leader of the Free World even in dubious warmongering policies in the near East, Libya etc. so they do not care that HRC is more hawkish than Sanders or Trump.
Sanders was, of course, virtually unknown in Europe until very recently so nobody really knows what to expect from him. Trump appears even more crazy for us than for US citizens although we (not I, we in Europe) had Berlusconi in Italy and should not be that surprised.

[Brian]

To be clear, I also supported the Iraq war at the time, based on the facts we were given. Bernie is disingenuous when he says he was against it because it was a bad war; he was against it because he is against foreign entanglements in general and was against Bush in particular. SO even if it had been a highly justified war he would have voted against it.

I support NSA spying. Sorry about that.

Why doesn't he run for office instead of complaining about lack of diversity?

I am not being pro-Anyone here, but I have no problem with most of the things you brought up there. I am against protectionism though.

I supported the Iraq War, but I was 13 years old  0:)

And the student in question was only 17 or 18. Not too young for some trailblazing school board members, and that one Michigan mayor who was 18, but...

[Gurn Blanston]

I supported the Iraq War, but I was 13 years old  0:)

And the student in question was only 17 or 18. Not too young for some trailblazing school board members, and that one Michigan mayor who was 18, but...

Yes, I didn't want to bring that up as a low blow...

I'm sure she didn't know that. I have seen a lot of late-teen men who look in their 20's. It was a one-off probably. Doesn't compare with "I could shoot someone in the street and not lose any voters...".   

[Karl Henning]

To be clear, I also supported the Iraq war at the time, based on the facts we were given. Bernie is disingenuous when he says he was against it because it was a bad war; he was against it because he is against foreign entanglements in general and was against Bush in particular. SO even if it had been a highly justified war he would have voted against it.

I agree (nor do I much mind) that he was against the war essentially on principle;  I disagree that this negates his claim to have been against it because it was a bad war.  I watched Colin Powell's presentation, and I do not think it is revisionist of me to remember a visceral feeling that the "evidence" was being sexed up (in Tony Blair's apt phrase . . . at least, I think it was his phrase).  Maybe I was fixated upon viewing the venture as Dubya playing out a revenge fantasy on behalf of his Pa.  Subsequent facts bore that fixation out 

[Karl Henning]

In my impression, Clinton is viewed rather favorably in Europe because with her it will be business as usual in foreign policy.
We do not really care about your domestic mess, unless you drag down the rest of the world (like in the subprime crisis) [...]

Now, you see, I see that as a case against Hillary, High-Paid Guest Speaker to the Asset Wealth Movers of New York.

[drogulus]

People and newspapers outside the US view Clinton rather favorably. Why is she considered a 'horrible person' at home ?

    No, I don't think you can explain it like that. If Hillary is hated she must be horrible. You're just making trouble asking why, and I suspect you're doing it on purpose. 

[Todd]

People and newspapers outside the US view Clinton rather favorably. Why is she considered a 'horrible person' at home ?

Depends on the person.  I don't think she's a terrible person, but she's far too hawkish.  She also has learned how to present facts and policy options selectively, like her husband, but without the slickness.  It makes her seem too calculating.

I support NSA spying. Sorry about that.

What type of NSA spying?  The domestic component is what troubles me.  The part about spying on the rest of the world is fine.  That's what the NSA exists to do.

[Jo498]

Now, you see, I see that as a case against Hillary, High-Paid Guest Speaker to the Asset Wealth Movers of New York.

I completely agree. But this is not something that is immediately connected with Hillary in Europe. As I said, probably it is mostly that Trump appears crazy, the others are virtually unknown, and Clinton stands for stability/business as usual.

[Karl Henning]

I completely agree. But this is not something that is immediately connected with Hillary in Europe. As I said, probably it is mostly that Trump appears crazy, the others are virtually unknown, and Clinton stands for stability/business as usual.

That stark contrast is fair enough.

[Karl Henning]

If Hillary is hated she must be horrible.

This is not the sharpest facetiousness of the day 

Clinton fatigue is real.  I'll disagree with our Gurn that the disaffection of Democrats themselves for the frontrunner is VRWC [Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy] after-market;  she wins the distrust, all on her own, time and time again . . . .

[Florestan]

Question(s) for our American fellow GMGers: who is the most ideologically rigid of Trump, Sanders and Hillary? I mean, who is the most likely to push his/her agenda with little, if at all, consideration for the economical, political and geopolitical reality which does not fit his/her worldview? Who is the least likely to seek a reasonable compromise with adverse parties and factions, at home and abroad?

[Brian]

Question(s) for our American fellow GMGers: who is the most ideologically rigid of Trump, Sanders and Hillary? I mean, who is the most likely to push his/her agenda with little, if at all, consideration for the economical, political and geopolitical reality which does not fit his/her worldview? Who is the least likely to seek a reasonable compromise with adverse parties and factions, at home and abroad?

I would go with Sanders. Trump is the most personally rigid, and the most stubborn, but his ideology changes daily, sometimes hourly. Trump arguably has no ideology whatsoever except the accumulation of more power for himself.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

People and newspapers outside the US view Clinton rather favorably. Why is she considered a 'horrible person' at home ?

Here's one reason:

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/03/03/libya-how-hillary-clinton-destroyed-a-country/

[Todd]

I would go with Sanders.

I agree with this.