[Special thanks to whoever created the above graphic.]
We all like Hillary Clinton here. If you don’t, please be respectful.
If you haven’t had the chance, check out the daily News & Views and the Hillary Writers Circle, as well as the afternoon Hillary Hangouts and the #ImWithHer evening open threads. In addition, here are some new diaries. You can find the rest at #HillaryClinton and related hashtags:
Scan: After a Crazy Week, the Fundamentals Remain in Hillary’s Favor
anastasia p: Hillary Campaign Weekend of Action in Ohio
El Mito: Hillary Is Still In Good Shape Looking at All Forecast, Is the Key Third Party Leaners?
ShockedAndAwed: I’d rather have a “lying” Hillary Clinton than a “dumb” man like Donald Trump
Thank you for filling in for me while I was on vacation, StarbucksGirl51!
So things aren’t going so great for our heroine right now, though positive coverage has ticked up in the past day, thanks to the Orange Horror’s inability to stay out of trouble.
This has a familiar feel to it. On the one hand, it feels like past episodes of the press piling on Hillary Clinton to an, at times, abusive degree. Breathlessly reporting scandals that aren’t scandals. Holding her to standards her opponent is never required to meet. Only when Hillary reminds us that she’s awesome does the abusive pattern break, such as when she killed it in the first primary debate last October. Then she rides a wave of positive press until the next concern trolling circle-jerk begins.
This also feels familiar because as far as I can remember, September has always been a month of instability for Democratic campaigns. September October 2012, it was the Great Obama First Debate Swoon. Remember how the media went on and on and on about how terrrrrrrrible he was after giving a merely okay debate performance? Then there was September 2008, when Sarah Palin was the bestest thing since sliced bread, poised to deliver a third consecutive term for Republicans. Remember when “lipstick on a pig” was a thing?
In both cases, Obama’s numbers swooned much harder than Hillary Clinton’s have, yet recovered quite well by November. Not to say that Hillary Clinton’s pattern is destined to follow Obama’s, but it does seem as though she’s poised to have at least one more triumphant moment that will cause her numbers to rebound. Once the Olympics were over, the media got tired of her being so far ahead, so they went into overdrive to deflate her numbers. Eventually, they will get bored of even relentless Hillary bashing.
Just because I’m optimistic about Hillary Clinton’s chances doesn’t mean I don’t feel upset about the media’s vicious, careless behavior toward her. The general nastiness is so palpable, it sometimes brings me to tears, and I can imagine Hillary has shed a few. I hope they would soften up a bit toward President Hillary Clinton, but if anything, they will probably go after her that much more fiercely.
Yet she just keeps on going… even with pneumonia! Every time I feel like giving in, I think about Hillary Clinton. As Scan would say, “Keep calm and Hillary on.”
Meanwhile, here is a really good article about her from Caroline Siede at BoingBoing: “To find Hillary Clinton likable, we must learn to view women as complex beings”:
So why is Clinton critiqued for raising her voice like Sanders, speaking hard truths like Biden, and making an awkward Pokémon Go reference we almost certainly would have dubbed a “dad joke” had Kaine said it? Why do we find their flaws likable and Clinton’s flaws off-putting? Why isn't she seen as America's awkward aunt or nerdy stepmom?
I would argue it’s because we don’t yet have cultural touchstones for flawed but sympathetic women. We can recognize Sanders as a fiery activist, Biden as a truth teller, and Kaine as an earnest goof, but we just don’t have an archetype—fictional or otherwise—through which to understand Clinton. As the first female nominee of a major political party, her campaign is in uncharted waters.
Meanwhile, Kevin Drum at Mother Jones notes that “Hillary’s Pneumonia Seems to Have Helped Her,” as her favorability numbers have ticked up since it was revealed. If so, hallelujah.
So what's going on? It could be that this is nothing but reversion to the mean after a couple of weeks of Emailgate and Foundationgate taking a toll. That would actually make some sense, since attitudes toward Clinton and Trump have been remarkably stable for the entire past year. In any case, maybe this will help panicky Dems to panic a little less.
If there’s one thing you can count on with Democrats, it’s panicking.
Oh, and it seems even the press isn’t falling for one Trump lie. A sign of change?
Every time you feel panicky about polls, consider clicking on one of the following links:
**CONTRIBUTE**
and/or
**VOLUNTEER**
I’ll be phone banking for the general election for the first time tomorrow. I’ll be interested to note the response I get.
This is your open thread.