Hillary Clinton’s favorability: a poll result that makes me want to take up drinking
This:
A clear majority of Americans, 59%, still view Hillary Clinton favorably a year after she left her post as secretary of state. Clinton’s current rating is noticeably lower than the 64% she averaged while serving in President Barack Obama’s cabinet.
The last time she had a higher unfavorable than favorable rating in the U.S. was in February 2008, when she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination against Obama. The latest findings come from a Gallup poll conducted Feb. 6-9.
At the time Clinton signed on as Secretary of State under Obama, I couldn’t understand it. I thought it was a bad decision on her part, but I was wrong. She is a very smart political animal, and she seems to have rightly ascertained that it was only her temporary opposition to the Great Obama that had made her look bad, and that if she joined him it would burnish her image.
And so it has, no matter what she actually did while in his Cabinet, because what she did was every bit as awful as what Obama did, and she did it as his underling. Somehow, though, that seems to have helped her in the minds of the American public. Her favorability rating is a great deal higher than his right now.
Let’s take a closer look at her chart over time:
You can see that her favorability ratings have demonstrated some variability over time, but have never gotten that bad ever since the public came to know her. The lowest low was 47, recorded in 1996. I was trying to think what might have been happening re Clinton back then, and I came up with this, which may have been responsible. At any rate, Clinton has remained remarkably popular for so controversial a figure, and soared into the mid-60s and remained there during her entire tenure as Secretary of State.
No one ever said Clinton wasn’t smart. She knew exactly what she was doing. As for Benghazi ”“ at this point, what difference does it make?
Clinton’s favorability may be in part due to the MSM’s obfuscation regarding Benghazi but I suspect that willful blindness by many of the public is at least equally responsible.
Especially given that just a day or so ago Gallup released a poll showing Obama’s favorability rating back up to 46%.
Another very recent poll shows that 79% of those who voted for Obama in 2012 would still(!) vote for him today.
Those polls reveal, among other things, just how indoctrinated so many Americans have become in the left’s memes and ‘narrative’.
Perhaps the liberal and low-info public’s willful blindness regarding Obama and Clinton is also reflective of an old aphorism, “If someone likes you, they’ll forgive you almost anything when remorse for offense is demonstrated but if someone dislikes you, nothing you can do will ever be quite good enough.”
IMO, the polls cited above reveal just how astute Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises was when he opined that, “Political ideas that have dominated the public mind for decades cannot be refuted through rational arguments. They must run their course in life and cannot collapse otherwise than in great catastrophe…”
“a poll result that makes me want to take up drinking”
Unfortunately, I have to agree this is cause for despair. If there are that many hardcore lefties and “low-information” boobs out there, I don’t see much hope.
Normally, I don’t take these polls too seriously (I’ve seen them turn on a dime, shifting by 20 points in 2 weeks), but that graph is an awfully large sample, the worst part of which is the most recent, 2009 – 2014, in which her favorability averaged about 63%, with a minimum of 59%. Evidently, her part in the Benghazi disaster seems to have damaged her image very little.
Here’s my guess at a breakdown of the “Favorables”:
Hard left/progressives: 18% – 25%
Low-info boobs: 22% – 35%
The low-information types absorb most of whatever the MSM spews out. I don’t recall any seriously bad press about Ms Clinton ever, not even after her dreadful testimony about Benghazi. And of course the MSM has pumped out plenty of nauseatingly fawning stuff.
Gee…. between this post, the one above it on the FCC in the newsrooms, and it being a very gloomy New England day (at least it’s above freezing), I think I’ll start the cocktail hour early today.
I’ve found Hillary has strong support of many middle to upper class women around her age (My wife not included but supporting this observation). This also extends to wannabe Hillaries in local politics. My take is she represents the era of somewhat feminist, well-educated (or at least correct University attendance) who chose to marry and raise families. They feel uneasy that they did not raise the independent feminist flag. So they respond to the fiction that Hillary is the “worlds smartest woman etc.”.
A GOP candidate running against here cannot really challenge this view, but can win by realizing that Hillary has no real ideas of her own.
I think Bill is a smart political animal. Hillary has benefited greatly from his advice paired with her willingness to work very hard at getting what she wants. A singular determination that allows her to brush off personal & professional speed bumps and just keep pushing forward.
The other thing is that the MSM has been lauding her for over 20 years. Not just an adoring press, but an entertainment industry that never fails to pump up the ‘Hillary is our most capable female politician ever’ meme (e.g. a movie set in the future has Hillary on its dollar bills, a sci-fi novel has a ship named USS Hillary). That’s an entire generation being told that Hillary is great and destined to succeed. How many other candidates have this advantage?
Propaganda and psychological warfare is on the level of WMDs.
When you use a WMD, people go crazy and point fingers at you.
Yet when you use propaganda, everybody thinks they came up with the idea on their own and do not resist you, so you continue with the operation for years. It adds up over time.
I’m guessing that a big part of that support is the women’s vote. Identity politics can be ugly. Obama beat her with the black vote.
By breaking down a woman’s ability to support herself emotionally or having an autonomous territory like the kitchen or house to sustain herself, single women are biased in favor of supporting Government crooks and thugs.
In place of a boyfriend, lover, or husband, modern feminism has indoctrinated and conditioned women to seek the Government Sugar Daddy for all things. And if that is so, then what better puppet or shall I say model, than Hillary Clinton to stick on the Brand.
Someone (probably in the military) knows what she did and didn’t do regarding Bengazhi.
For the sake of the Republic, I hope that person comes forward.
physicsguy and neo:
It is with much regret and surprise that life has taught me to be wary of the non-drinker, and to embrace the drinker as presumably trustworthy.
Having said that, Hillary has the classic look of a heavy drinker, which plays havoc with my life experience.
Tonawanda:
And to further confuse you (I think), I really don’t drink, except for a couple of sips here and there.
See this.
After two drinks, I’ll say what’s on my mind. Hillary is a vicious sociopath (like Obama), a drunk, a lesbian, an anti-American Saul Alinsky commie, and her daughter is a stupid bint, so Hillary is also a Bad Mother. We Do Not Want This Loser as our President.
If she somehow gets elected, then we should all read Wikipedia and other sources like “Bloodlands” on various relevant subjects, like, for example, Cossacks, Ukraine, Ruthenia, Ruthenian language, Ukrainian language, Galicia, Bessarabia, Lvov, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus.
My son recently got interested in our family history, so I tried to help him by sending him information about the changing borders of Europe since 1800. Hillary will be a passing blip.
Our lives are short, and much can happen in the next 1,000 years. Be prepared. The United States has been a lucky country, but bad leaders can destroy us. Maybe the Cossacks represent our future as a “free people.”
“Hillary is a vicious sociopath (like Obama), a drunk, a lesbian, an anti-American Saul Alinsky commie, and her daughter is a stupid bint, so Hillary is also a Bad Mother. We Do Not Want This Loser as our President.”
After No drinks, I will agree with you and add a “Hear, Hear!”
Vicious is exactly the word. I met a man at a conservative meetup in NYC some 10 years ago who was in the Secret Service when the Clintoons were in the White House. He said that she ordered the SS guys around like field hands: told him at one point to clean the dirty dishes off a table, and he said, ‘Ma’am, that’s not in my job description.’ He said she uncorked a string of obscenities (which he says wasn’t unusual with her) and told him she would report him to his superior officer.
Later, his CO called him into his office. He shut the door, then said, “Jim, I have a letter of reprimand to read to you.” He then read a letter from Hildebeast. Looked up from the letter, said, “Have you heard and understood this letter?” “Yes, sir.”
The CO deliberately wadded up the letter, shot it into the circular file, and said, “Dismissed.” And that was the end of it.
“Jim” said that she was a shrew, a bitch on wheels, arrogant-oh-my-God, and that all this BS about her alleged charm was total crap.
I know some old school hardcore rad-fems in NYC who think she’s the bomb, baby! and worship her. For them, it’s all about ID politics and a feverish Leftism. (See “Witness,” by Whittaker Chambers, for an explanation of the breed.)
But my money’s on “Jim’s” account. It agrees 100% with the vibe I get off that woman. Never liked her even when I voted (the first time!) for her disgusting husband. “Jim” also said that he did a couple of details with John Effin’ Kerry when the Gigolo was running for President: said he’d never in his life seen such an appalling snob, a complete jackass. Insufferable.
L O N G before I had heard a word about her…
My business associate told me of his wife’s college daze with Hillary. They were in the same dorm/ sorority/ whatevers….
The down low was that Hillary came on to his wife — lo those many years ago — sexually.
Rather graphically described.
She also told her husband that the gal was a total bitch, a real player/ back-stabber/ get-even-‘er.
Bill hadn’t even been elected yet — and she wasn’t on the ballot.
Neo, that was an interesting post (from 2008) and regardless of your potentially offensive sobriety you strike me as a trustworthy person.
And I am guessing you are actually a lot of fun.
I don’t drink alcohol regularly either. And Hildebrand there isn’t enough to motivate me to do so.
It’s easier to just manually flip off social filters rather than relying on the automatic alcohol.
Of course any criticism of Hillary will be attributed to sexism. Even worse, if she does manage to attain the office of president, she will likely be re-elected because people will fear being branded as sexist, so we will be stuck with her for 8 years. Better get started stocking that bar. (This is based on my opinion that Obama got a second term mainly because of people who were afraid of being branded as racist. It certainly wasn’t his performance in his first term. I am also assuming that the charge of sexism is just as powerful as the charge of racism, though I am not sure of that.)