Regardless of who the democrats finally nominate for president, I will definitely vote for them, but I have noticed something that makes me pause when it comes to considering Hillary Clinton for the position. I wonder if someone can respond with something helpful or at least reassuring.
I live in the middle of GOP territory and poor, less-educated white voters abound here. They watch Fox News thinking it is unbiased and believe it when the right says that us ‘libruls’ are out to take their guns. *sigh*
One thing I have noticed among even the somewhat intelligent ones out there is an almost pathological hatred of Hillary Clinton. Even those who I would have considered somewhat moderate all seem to have the same knee-jerk reaction towards her. When I ask them why, they bring up this or that issue; each of them thoroughly disproved, but even if I counter each point with a provable fact, they can’t seem to be shaken from their hate. They seem to cling to to it for no logical reason I can fathom — even purporting to consider voting for Trump (while admitting he’s a clown show) if she is the only alternative.
I don’t understand it, and I’m not sure what can be done about it. I honestly think there is nothing anyone could say or show these people to make them ever think well of Hillary — it’s as if the right, believing for the last 10 years that she was the inevitable candidate, has spent the time brainwashing their constituency to hate. It’s downright frightening. It’s not based in logic, nor facts, and yet these people can not be shaken from it. These are people who also tend to dislike Obama, but it seems to me even that hatred pales next to the animus they hold for Ms. Clinton.
It’s worrying. Even more so when I hear Ms. Clinton saying that the right will ‘come to their senses’ if she becomes president and start working with her. Uh, no. They didn’t work with Obama at all, and they’ve been gearing up not to work with her for even longer. Comments like that from her make me worry that she’ll waste as much time trying to get them to work with her as Obama did and we’ll just have 4 more years of stalemate while the rich just get richer and the poor fall off the cliff. She’s got to be aware of the hate — there’s no way she couldn’t — which makes the suggestion that they will work with her better than they did with Obama ridiculous. It would be like trying to work with a rabid dog; there’s just no reason there to reason with.
So, what do you say to someone who’s that fanatical about hating Hillary? How do you counter the very real vast right-wing conspiracy in your own neighborhood?