It appears that the biggest obstacle that Hillary Clinton may face in her rather obvious goal of reaching the the White House in 2008 will be Hillary Clinton herself.
Anna Shelley, a mother of three from Utah, says she is ready for a female president, and she is sure that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has what it takes.
But Shelley, a Democrat, is not sure she could ever pull a lever for Clinton. Her reservations are vague but unmistakable: Something about Clinton leaves her cold.
“I want to see her as a human being — I can read a newspaper and see her agenda,” said Shelley, 27, whose husband did a tour in Iraq and who is appreciative of Clinton’s support of the military.
“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.”
And this is a Democrat talking mind you. As the Washington Post goes on to explain, Hillary is faced with the paradox of being both the most well-known, and most disliked, person to run for President in recent American memory:
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.”
Its not just the fact that many people have strongly held negative opinions about her that could be her downfall, but the fact that even voters that don’t necessarily hate her apparently don’t think she’s the type of warm-and-fuzzy person that Americans generally like to see in the White House.
[T]hose who have worked with her say that, unlike her husband, who easily conveys empathy and familiarity, Clinton is instinctively more reserved and harder to get to know.
The result is a public portrait of Clinton as highly self-contained. In an era when images of politicians biking or jogging are used to give them another dimension, she is rarely seen doing anything personally revealing.
She seems, as more than one person has remarked, like a robot with little or no real emotion to convey. This is in stark contrast to her husband, who could muster fake emotion at will, something which the American public not only believed but loved. What this means only time well tell.
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The Hillary For President Campaign Fires Its Opening Shot
Second Thoughts About Hillary
