Why do people hate Hillary?

It's true - there has probably never been as polarizing a presidential candidate as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY. As a resident of the rural Midwest for all of my life, I have an up-close and personal view of Hillary-hatred, and it is widespread, coming from many different quarters and social strata. I remember at the height of the Monica Lewinsky affair, people wearing T-shirts that said, "I'd cheat on Hillary too." Fans of the comedian Chris Rock probably remember a routine of his in which he blamed the former first lady for that scandal, claiming that if she had satisfied his needs, it never would have happened. It's impossible to bring up Hillary in a blue-collar bar without a local person (usually male) shouting out, "She's a lesbian!" or some cruder variant of the term. An elderly friend of mine has more sensible reasons for disliking her, calling her a "carpetbagger," someone who had no business running for Congress in the state of New York, having come from Arkansas. But I break it down to two main problems that Hillary has, starting with one she can't help, and another she can. The first is her previous career as the First Lady. In many parts of society, Hillary is remembered as a First Lady who tried to redefine a position that no one wanted redefined. When the former President announced that Hillary would be his partner in setting the legislative agenda, traditionally-minded Americans blanched. Many of them thought that Hillary should "stay home and bake cookies," as she famously remarked. After seeing the grandmotherly visages of former First Ladies Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush, and observing how they deferred publicly to their powerful husbands, America may not have been ready for a First Lady who didn't just pay lip service to the idea of gender equality. Or, perhaps it was simply a case of, "Who elected her, anyway?" It may be too simple to define people's reactions to the former First Lady as pure sexism, but certainly sexism played a part (not to mention the goofy homophobia described above.) As mentioned, her past career as the First Lady and people's reactions to it are nothing she can change. But her image, which is that of a charmless, heartless political operative, is. I took it as a hopeful sign when she recently joked about her ability to deal with "evil, bad men, " an obvious jibe at her famous husband. Hillary will never be the charmer that Bill Clinton was and is (few people ever could be,) but if she loosens up and shows the more human, compassionate side of herself, the side that wrote "It Takes a Village," she will have a much better chance at winning over those who may have the wrong impression of her. A more relaxed, energetic Hillary, combined with her foreign policy and legislative experience and the enthusiastic support of her husband, could be a great alternative to the charming yet inexperienced Barack Obama, D-IL, and the retread candidate John Edwards, D-SC. Combine that with her new antiwar stance, and it may even be enough to carry her past authentic national heroes Rudy Giuliani, R-NY, or John McCain, R-AZ. Those two, Iraq hawks both, will have trouble convincing a war-weary America that staying in Iraq is worth the cost in lives and treasure, and if Hillary Clinton stays on message against the war, she has an excellent chance. The only thing that could derail her is the prejudice of certain Americans against her and her husband. Click here for a related article.