I did my own little poll about Hillary.

[PresidentObama]

Many of my family members are Hillary Clinton supporters, and want her to run and win in 2008. They all know I'm a Kerry supporter, and pester me about it. It's all in good fun,of course. But yesterday I got curious.

So I called them....

I wanted to know why they supported Hillary Clinton.

My first question I posed was what has Hillary done that you support her for?

Every single family members (and I asked about 8 family members) stopped in silence. They had no answer. They didn't know what she's done in the Senate to qualify her. And 90 percent of them it seemed answered she was the wife of Bill Clinton. Because of the polls. Because of the media hype. Because of the Clinton name value.

The wife of Bill Clinton? That qualifys you to be President of the biggest nation of the world in the time of war?

So I asked my parents. My mom loves Hillary simply because of Bill, and she wants a woman in the WH. And my dad thinks she can 'win' They both said they want Kerry, like me, but that they think she'll win it. And I asked them what qualified her?

It was the polls. It was the media hype. And it was because she was a Clinton.

Now I'm not bashing Hillary. I simply don't understand it. A lot of people in our party are scared of Hillary because they think she'll lose and is too polarizing. And those who support her, like in the instance of my small family poll, support her because of her name. And her name only.

Please understand I'm listening to Hillary, and waiting for her message before criticism leaves this Kerry supporters mouth. But this worries, and worries me a lot.

I suggest you conduct this little poll at coffee shops, and around the water cooler at work. See if you get the same results, because this troubles me.

This poll is of course non-scientific and should be taken with a grain of salt like every other poll right now. Hehe ;-)

[bigdarryl]

1. Not to bash anyone in your family but they sound igorant when it comes to politics to...

vote for someone because of there gender or because they were married to a ex president is CRAZY they should look at all the candidates. this is why the country is in the mess we are in now with this bone head we have in the white house. in 2000 nobody knew shit about Bush but because they said he seemed like a nice guy you could sit down and have a beer with they voted this idiot in and because the media went after Gore non stop Gore ended up looking like a monster buy the time the voting started

[Nite Owl]

2. I am finding the same results

People who like her is really just because she is who she is and not for what she has done. She is my Senator and her voting record is good, except for the IWR vote which she was not alone on. But leadership, that I haven't seen and that is what I want in a President. She always seems afraid to come out first, to state what she thinks first. I don't dislike her but she hasn't shown that she is Presidential material. I'd like to be able to support her and work for her if she wins the primaries but she will have to prove herself just like anyone else.

[John Q. Citizen]

3. You make some interesting points. n/t

[Madspirit]

4. If you really want to know...

Since I don't have time to type everything out for you, I suggest you go to Wikipedia.com:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_Clinton

They have a comprehensive list of all the wonderful things Hillary did as First Lady and a comprehensive list of all the wonderful things she has done as senator.
Madspirit

[wisteria]

13. Oh, and we know we can trust them to be accurate because no one ever tampers with that site. n/t

[Madspirit]

16. ...and you can repudiate...

what they say or it's just a knee-jerk response because you don't like her. Go repudiate what they say her record is because of course it's all a lie...a big lie because if it doesn't say what you want to hear...it must be, right...

[Warpy]

5. I found the same thing with the average working person who voted

for Stupid in the last 2 elections. It went like this:

"Who'd ya vote for??"

"I voted for Stupid!" (said with obvious pride)

"Why'd ya vote for him?" (no confrontation, just a plain question)

"I dunno, I just did."

Sometimes it was just "I dunno, I just like him."

Unlike the average person on DU, this is how the average, alienated person thinks and votes. They don't know why they support someone or other, they just DO.

It's depressing, and unless we manage to put some curbs on tabloid obsessed and ridiculously biased corporate media, it's not likely to change.

[Clark2008]

6. I've found that a lot of people voted for Chucklenuts because he

WASN'T a "wimpy Democrat."

It wasn't that they liked him, they just bought into the media hype surrounding Democrats and thought they were "limp-wristed patsies" or something equally as inane and condescending.

[Labors of Hercules]

11. aren't we though?

limp-wristed flip-flopping lame-assed flag-burning homosexual-loving terrorist-supporting wimps who will destroy the very fabric of our society through our inability to stand up to the axis of EEEEVVVIIILLL?

I'm gonna go have a beer, beat the shit outta my wife and get ready for church now...

[quinnox]

7. It makes sense

I mean, tons of Democrats adored Bill Clinton and they love Hillary as well. There is something about Hillary Clinton that is unexplainable, she has the quality to induce a real following.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. You may find this interesting

Amongst my friends here in Arkansas, I have found NONE who will support Hillary in the primary.

[Clark2008]

9. Same here in Tennessee.

In fact, I know some Democrats who say they'll vote third party if she's the nominee. And these are solid Dems. They hate Bush. They hate McCain, but they also hate HRC.

[Ronnie]

10. That's a lot of hate.

[wisteria]

14. No one in my family support her. In fact they beg me to somehow not let her win. n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Mine, too.

My husband, who's as good a Democrat as you'll find, has said unequivocally that he will NOT vote for her, he'd rather abstain entirely. I probably would, but with no enthusiasm, unless she does something to really surprise me. I really think we can do better.

[wisteria]

12. That is why the debates and taking the message across the country is so important.

I personally know a lot of people who like Bill Clinton, but that doesn't mean they want to see another Clinton White House. It has been mentioned that all the scandals, the tabloid news and the questionable ethics have made them feel our country doesn't' t need these things again. The Clinton's had their time. It is time for new blood.

[question everything]

15. "The wife of Bill Clinton" is not different from the son of Bush

In both cases you have name recognition and, yes, the assumption that Bill Clinton and papa Bush would be advisers. In the case of Bush Jr., there was also the need for revenge. Clinton kicked papa Bush out but Junior is coming back.

Just as papa Bush was elected with the hope of the third Reagan term, same will be with Hillary.

Which means, this creates both negatives and positives for her.

[iilana X]

18. I've done some informal polling myself.

Most people I've talked to are disgusted that Hillary has been nominated by the press and they are sitting out the primary. They liked Bill but haven't been too happy about his buddying up with old man Bush. They don't like Hillery Care and they think she's been a very unimpressive senator.

Obama gets a puzzled look from everyone, even those who have heard of him. Nobody seems to get his candidacy.

What surprised me the most was the animosity toward Edwards. I thought of him as a nice guy but kind of a lightweight, but I've heard a lot of negative opinions about him. They say he's a phony. They like his wife better than Edwards himself.

Everyone I've talked to likes Clark and Kerry and Gore but doubts any of them will run. A few have heard of Biden but don't really know much about him other than he's a senator and he does a lot of talk shows. After that it's: Dodd? Visa-who?

[Matariki]

19. Sadly, this is how most Americans vote

whether for Clinton, or Kerry, or Bush.

It's tragic.

[kath]

20. Yep. Can you say SHEEPLE.

media hype and name recognition, etc.


BAAAAAAAAAAA. BAAAAAAAAAAAA. BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

<on edit> Reminds me of someone's AWESOME tagline I came across yesterday:

"A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves" - Edward R. Murrow

[election_2004]

21. Why am I not surprised?

This is a perfect example of why I'm an Independent, rather than a Democrat.