I'm not just tossing things out there. From the CNN article I posted:
Quote:
But if regular voters aren't paying attention, the Democratic power brokers who hold sway over the nomination process in key states — the legislators, local party chairmen and plugged-in activists — most definitely are. The questions some of them are raising are less about the specifics of the stories and more about the long-established narratives they feed: That the secretive Clintons, enabled by unquestioning loyalists, play by their own rules.
But I didn't have to read the article to know that.
The Clintons have been dogged by a perception of shiftiness for decades. I'm surprised that you don't think Hillary's integrity will be an issue during the election. Even if she wins, it will be one of the bigger things she'll have had to overcome.
Barack Obama didn't have to deal with this. Sure, there were a few wackos claiming he wasn't born in the US or that he was a Muslim, but there were no credible reports about Obama during either election indicating wrongdoing. He was a clean candidate, even if you didn't agree with his politics. He was also assisted by the fact that he was viewed as an outsider in '08 (which was a huge advantage during that troubled year), and then enjoyed incumbent status in 2012 (and also faced a lousy Republican candidate). Plus, most of the fails of the Obama Presidency either occurred or came to light after the 2012 election, so honestly he didn't have that hard of a time winning twice.
The Republicans have a thick book of Hillary Clinton scandals to choose from, dating back 25 years or so, and it's a consistent pattern of shady behavior.
Even her personal life is weird.
It is well known that Bill cheated on her countless times. Obviously Monica Lewinsky and Gennifer Flowers weren't the only ones. Why would an intelligent, successful, empowered woman stay with a man like that? Clearly it was for political reasons, and the public recognizes that. So while you look at Barack Obama or George W. Bush and basically see a normal family man who loves his wife, you look at Hillary and see her in a marriage of convenience, marred by repeated infidelity in a tradeoff for political aspirations.
The bottom line is that there's an endless amount of legitimate material that can be used against Hillary in an election, and she had better be prepared for it.
Oh, and there is still an anti-political-establishment sentiment among voters, in case you haven't noticed. That definitely won't help Hillary.
What about the poll you talked about? I haven't looked at it, but was it taken before or after the recent e-mail scandal? And what are her numbers among non-Democrats?
I can tell you that, as a Republican, candidate Barack Obama scared me from the start. Hillary never scared me, because she carries so much baggage.