Why is Clinton Disliked?

Dear Friends,

As you know, I seldom, if ever, agree with David Brooks, but I thought that his column, entitled "Why is Clinton Disliked?" this morning in The New York Times (here) was quite insightful.  While I am an avid supporter of Bernie Sanders, I do not dislike Hillary Clinton.  I dislike many of her positions and believe that Bernie Sanders is the better candidate and the better choice for President.

There are, however, many people who dislike or really dislike Hillary Clinton.  David Brooks has a very plausible reason for the phenomenon that such an accomplished person can be disliked by so many people.

At least in her public persona, Clinton gives off an exclusively professional vibe: industrious, calculated, goal-oriented, distrustful. It’s hard from the outside to have a sense of her as a person; she is a role.
This formal, career-oriented persona puts her in direct contrast with the mores of the social media age, which is intimate, personalist, revealing, trusting and vulnerable. It puts her in conflict with most people’s lived experience. Most Americans feel more vivid and alive outside the work experience than within. So of course to many she seems Machiavellian, crafty, power-oriented, untrustworthy.
...
Even successful lives need these sanctuaries — in order to be a real person instead of just a productive one. It appears that we don’t really trust candidates who do not show us theirs.

Whether this widespread dislike is fair or justified, it is real and is the cause for her extremely high unfavorability ratings.  If she becomes the Democratic nominee for President and expects to win, she will need to change this image and clarify her positions to attract the supporters of Bernie Sanders who are new to the political process.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal