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tabasco

(22,974 posts)
Sun May 15, 2016, 09:43 PM May 2016

Even supporters agree: Clinton has weaknesses as a candidate. What can she do?

Hillary Clinton’s declining personal image, ongoing battle to break free of the challenge from Sen. Bernie Sanders and struggle to adapt to an anti-establishment mood among voters this year have become caution signs for her campaign and the focus of new efforts to fortify her position as she prepares for a bruising general election.

More than a dozen Clinton ­allies identified weaknesses in her candidacy that may erode her prospects of defeating Donald Trump, including poor showings with young women, untrustworthiness, unlikability and a lackluster style on the stump. Supporters also worry that she is a conventional candidate in an unconventional election in which voters clearly favor renegades.

“I bring it down to one thing and one thing only, and that is likability,” said Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster who has conducted a series of focus groups for the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

To counter these challenges, Clinton is relying primarily on the prospect that her likely Republican opponent’s weaknesses are even greater. But advisers also are working to soften her stiff public image by highlighting her compassion and to combat perceptions about trustworthiness and authenticity by playing up her problem-solving abilities.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/even-supporters-agree-clinton-has-weaknesses-as-a-candidate-what-can-she-do/2016/05/15/132f4d7e-1874-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html
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Even supporters agree: Clinton has weaknesses as a candidate. What can she do? (Original Post) tabasco May 2016 OP
she could step aside. nt grasswire May 2016 #1
Agreed! Time For Hillary To Don Her Patriotism Outfit And ... Call It A Day! CorporatistNation May 2016 #3
The catcallers for this can never answer one simple question Tarc May 2016 #7
.... asuhornets May 2016 #12
Problem is Sanders has not become a stronger candidate so I will be sticking with the Thinkingabout May 2016 #2
All candidates have weaknesses. Hillary has many more strengths. Arkansas Granny May 2016 #4
This thing is.... Adrahil May 2016 #5
What the gop would do to Sanders MFM008 May 2016 #14
I'll go with who a majority want jamese777 May 2016 #6
We've gone over this too many times. pdsimdars May 2016 #18
I guess Donald Trump.... jamese777 May 2016 #8
Quit the race right now and avoid embarrassment indictment and disgrace tularetom May 2016 #9
Bernie has no weaknesses? JaneyVee May 2016 #10
Who wrote that? No link? morningfog May 2016 #13
Interesting pmorlan1 May 2016 #11
Absolutely. NanceGreggs May 2016 #15
Generalizations indicate a lack of critical thinking skills. tabasco May 2016 #16
What can she do? Do the right thing and "spend more time with her family.' pdsimdars May 2016 #17

CorporatistNation

(2,546 posts)
3. Agreed! Time For Hillary To Don Her Patriotism Outfit And ... Call It A Day!
Sun May 15, 2016, 09:49 PM
May 2016

Time for the most trusted and competent candidate to be front and center FOR the people and put the Corporatists on the back bench!

Thinkingabout

(30,058 posts)
2. Problem is Sanders has not become a stronger candidate so I will be sticking with the
Sun May 15, 2016, 09:46 PM
May 2016

Most qualified and strongest candidate, Hillary.

 

Adrahil

(13,340 posts)
5. This thing is....
Sun May 15, 2016, 09:57 PM
May 2016

The more I see Sanders campaign, the more I think he's a terrible campaigner. A one-note charlie. Everything comes back to his one core issue, and every speech is the same. Trump would eat him alive, I think.

jamese777

(546 posts)
6. I'll go with who a majority want
Sun May 15, 2016, 09:59 PM
May 2016

Hillary Clinton is just fine with me.
Bernie Sanders is just fine with me.
There's a month left of primary voting to go.

Primaries' total popular vote as of May 15
Hillary Clinton: 12,728,415
Donald Trump: 11,025,505
Bernie Sanders: 9,627,509

 

pdsimdars

(6,007 posts)
18. We've gone over this too many times.
Mon May 16, 2016, 09:22 AM
May 2016

Those votes are trotted out but they aren't real.
For example, Bernie beat Hillary in Washington by 40% points (70.6 percent to 29.2 percent).
Do you know how many VOTES they gave him for that? ZERO.
Many of his states were like that.
So, you are posting MISLEADING numbers. But what else does Hillary have but deception?

pmorlan1

(2,096 posts)
11. Interesting
Sun May 15, 2016, 10:05 PM
May 2016
When Democrats assess Clinton, they tend to zero in on her communication skills: She is scripted and thin-skinned, they say. And with a sigh, they acknowledge the persistent feeling among a lot of Americans that they just don’t like her. Polls long have shown that many voters do not trust Clinton and that a majority view her unfavorably.

Hart said being seen as likable is “about the lowest bar” for a candidate, and yet Clinton has lower likability numbers today than she did when the campaign began.

It is cold comfort that Trump’s are worse, several Democrats said.

Among other potential problems identified by supporters: Clinton’s unpopularity with white men, questions about whether her family philanthropic foundation helped donors and friends, and lingering clouds from her tenure at the State Department, including her private email system, the Benghazi attacks in which four Americans were killed and her support for military intervention in Libya.


What struck me most about this piece is that these are all things Sanders supporters have said and yet in this piece they are coming from Hillary supporters. But the Hillary supporters here at DU have denied all of them.

NanceGreggs

(27,815 posts)
15. Absolutely.
Sun May 15, 2016, 10:15 PM
May 2016

Hillary supporters agree that their candidate has her flaws, her weaknesses, has made mistakes in the past and will no doubt make mistakes in future.

Contrast that with BS supporters who think their candidate is a flawless saint, totally incapable of saying or doing anything wrong.

That's probably why HRC is the front-runner - thanks to the reality-based community that doesn't believe that sainthood can be conferred on any politician just because his fans want it to be so.

 

tabasco

(22,974 posts)
16. Generalizations indicate a lack of critical thinking skills.
Mon May 16, 2016, 08:31 AM
May 2016

The corporate media anointed H. Clinton as the nominee four years ago.

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