As an interested non-American, this was a nice read. From a distance, Hilary seems like a thoroughly dislikeable person but the bitterness is harder to understand. It was also interesting to read about people who switch between radically different candidates, which doesn't fit the standard narrative of a highly polarised America. Maybe they're unusual exceptions, I don't know.
What’s happening to Clinton, says Cooper, “happens to a lot of women. There are millions of people who will say about another woman: She’s really good at her job, I just don’t like her. They think they’re making an objective evaluation, but when we look at the broader analysis, there is a pattern to the bias.”
That may be true, and certainly misogyny plays its part, but I still dislike her. Or Theresa May. Or Angela Eagle. Or Margaret Thatcher. Or Dianne Abott. Dislikeable people shouldn't be given extra credit because of their gender. On the other hand I liked Mo Mowlam very much, I've got nothing personal against Leanne Wood, I'm not sure about Nicola Sturgeon, while I like Julie Morgan and Jenny Willott. I just don't buy the idea that women are generally more empathetic or less aggressive, at least when it comes to politics, they just as scheming, conniving, and charismatic as men.
For as long as Hillary Clinton has been in public life, people who’ve met in her person have marveled at how much more likable she is in the flesh than she is on television. “What’s remarkable isn’t that she can be funny, spontaneous, and mischievous, and has a loud, throaty laugh; what’s remarkable is the extent to which she has sequestered her personality from the media,” Gates wrote in 1996.
Cooper thinks it’s possible that once she’s no longer explicitly competing for power, the widespread public dislike of her might ebb. “When she announces she’s running for something, her unfavorability increases,” Cooper says of Clinton. “When she’s in a role, her favorability starts to creep up again.”
Certainly something to think about, at any rate.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/07/the_people_who_hate_hillary_clinton_the_most.html
Also as a non-American looking in, I found this a good too. This quote, I think, is very close to the mark.
ReplyDelete_“The benefit you get from being a woman running is, No. 1, you’re seen as more empathetic, more relatable, having deeper feelings about things, not just approaching things in an unemotional way,” Packer says. “And 2, you’re seen as not a typical politician.”
If that’s true, it’s possible that when a woman approaches politics in a coolly pragmatic way—when she shows herself to be, in many ways, a typical politician—it makes people particularly uncomfortable._
I'm not saying everyone who hates Hilary is sexist, but when one looks at the level of vitriol, you can't help but conclude the gender plays a significant roll for a lot of people.
That said, the one line that bothered me more than anything was this one.
For Democrats, the silver lining is that Clinton’s running against Donald Trump. “I think she won the lottery ticket,” Packer says.
That the Democrats may be underestimating the appeal of Trump's message deeply worries me. I think they, and mainstream Republicans for that matter, are so disconnected from their electorate that they don't see what's going on at all.
Mike Aben About the "lottery ticket", it doesn't feel like they are underestimating him so much as he is the one candidate against who she has the best chance.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't mean that she will win, particularly as, indeed, the populist far right in general and Trump in particular seem to often do better than polls expected.
The bit about her being more liked once in power is surprising, generally it is the opposite, with approval falling once people realize exactly what kind of administrator they are now stuck with for the next years.
But then again, here she is described as the opposite of a normal politician: someone with poor demagogy skills, but good at actually running things - exactly the kind of people I complain our system should have more. Though again, I have no idea how accurate this description actually is.
For the bit about having a great personal contact, I heard the same about many prominent French politicians, from Socialist President François Hollande to Far-right populist Marine Le Pen. (For reference, one has the lowest presidential approval ratings the Fifth Republic ever saw and the other is wildly considered a dangerous demagogue with inconsistent and even contradictory messages depending on the audience).
So this may not be a good criterion for statesmanship.
Society always have elements of bias.
ReplyDelete