Monday, June 04, 2007

People Like Clinton

Let me endorse in general terms Scarecrow's take on Clinton, both the positives and the negatives, and add a note for Clinton detractors.

That people have a problems with Clinton, or prefer other candidates, is perfectly understandable. One can make a case against her for a variety of reasons, and one can of course make the case for other candidates. But I do get a sense that a lot of online negativity against Clinton is misplaced and counterproductive to the cause, that is the cause of derailing her candidacy if that is your goal.

There seems to be a tendency to paint Clinton supporters as uninformed or stupid. I have no doubt that Clinton supporters may not be aware of every argument against her, every point of potential disagreement, and every little failing. But that's true of the supporters of every candidate. More to the point, the "denigrate the supporters" strategy is, generally, no way to win friends and influence people.

People like Clinton. She's the clear frontrunner in national polls. Her strong showing as peoples' second choice suggests that the "anti-Clinton" constitutency isn't all that strong.

I'm not writing any of this to make the case for Clinton, I'm just trying to make the case that her detractors underestimate the strength of her support at their peril. Whatever the reasons, her support is real and significant.