As a strategist for Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign, James Carville made “the economy, stupid” one of the election’s biggest talking points. It’s enjoyed quite the afterlife as a cipher for voters’ motivations, both in its original phrasing and in adaptation: it’s the deficit, stupid; it’s the Constitution, stupid; it’s the taxes, the regulations, transportation, equal rights, the military, children, and occasionally even the voters, stupid.
This cycle, we might say that it’s likability that’s driving voters’ sympathies and choices, and certainly, that’s been one of the media’s dominant narratives. If you had just awoken from a long coma, you could find out why people don’t like Donald Trump by watching a few minutes of any of his speeches and glancing over the extensive public record of what an asshole he is. It’s harder to say what’s up with the visceral dislike some have for Hillary Clinton, but it’s real, and supporting a brisk business in really offensiveanti-Clinton merch. And judging by polls and voter-on-the-street interviews, plenty of people who don’t hate her like that are still just not comfortable with her.
Some of that is from being misinformed: no, Secretary Clinton did not cause the attack in Benghazi, and she had, in fact, requested funding to improve security at State facilities, a request Congress denied. She isn’t going to take away your guns, as though anyone actually could; she supports the same modest changes nearly everyone in the country does — more and better background checks, closing various sales loopholes, etc. And of course, people believe these things in spite of widely available contrary evidence. On the Nightly Show a few weeks back, Robin Thede hit the phenomenon right on its head: asked why she thought people weren’t warming to Clinton, she burst out, “We have to stop hating women!”
It’s the gonads, stupid.
Americans are looking at one of the most experienced individuals ever to seek the Oval Office and feeling like they can’t trust her. They’re looking at the first person to use the White House to advocate for affordable, accessible health care, way back in the early 90s, and saying she doesn’t seem like a caring person. They’re looking at someone who went undercover to expose racism in Southern schools, and saying they don’t think she understands everyday people’s struggles. It’s shameful.
Run down the reasons people dislike Clinton: she’s untrustworthy, she’s opportunistic, she’s hawkish, or, one might say, aggressive; she’s loud, she’s cold and inhuman, she doesn’t smile enough, she’s sexually inadequate. Pundits have described the intensifying GOP anti-Clinton rhetoric as a witch hunt, and not for nothing — these are the stereotypes about independent women that fueled the accusations in 17th century Salem. And here’s the big, big difference between “unlikable” Donald Trump and “unlikable” Hillary Clinton — bigger even than the fact that people dislike Clinton, but loathe Trump: Trump is a loathsome person, period. Clinton is “unlikable” only if you’re judging her by traditional feminine norms.
A woman who doesn’t undermine herself probably still weirds a lot of us out, I’m sure mostly unconsciously. It’s not resurrected nonscandals from the 90s or the horseshit Fox News stirs up that make so many people skeptical of Clinton. She proved herself worthy of the nation’s trust when she actually had it as Secretary of State; Trump has been irresponsible and dishonest as long as he’s been in the public eye, but people still trust him more. The reader may wish to carry this analysis further, comparing the evidence for our 2016 candidates’ opportunism, aggression, loudness, humanity, pleasantness of countenance and performance as spouses, such as can be judged. It’s nonsensical — unless something besides Clinton’s record is informing people’s perceptions, something like, say, deeply held notions about gender roles. Obama, racism, parallels.
Tonight, as I watched leftie Twitter grouse about Clinton choosing Tim Kaine for VP, I thought, the woman can’t get a break. Here’s a charming, articulate, dedicated public servant who’s championed civil rights and immigration reform, that I know of, and we’re unhappy because he’s “boring.” Apparently, a highly competent candidate with wide-ranging, relevant experience and a strong record on progressive priorities isn’t anything to get excited about.
Typifying the sentiment, Michael Moore sighed that Clinton is “trying to win votes from a middle that’s no longer there,” and noted that, by contrast, Trump went with Mike Pence “to excite the base.” But Pence isn’t there to “excite the base.” Did you see the convention this past week? The base is frighteningly excited. Pence is an attempt to paper over the gaping holes where, ordinarily, one might find plans for governance and some sort of moral compass. He’s placatory, a lure for evangelicals, one specific segment of the GOP base, and for Republicans who would like their standard-bearer to do more than whip crowds into frenzies and lie about the size of said frenzied crowds.
There’s no middle to aim for, anyway, because these two candidates’ axes don’t intersect. Trump has no policies. What’s midway between Hillary Clinton and a bigoted former reality TV star — gravel? Tomato soup? A herd of bison? I’m sure her campaign is well aware that this election isn’t happening along the left/right spectrum, which suggests the “boring” choice of Kaine is in the service of some other goal. My bet is that he’s joining the ticket to help voters who aren’t personally comfortable with Hillary become more so. Kaine’s a personable, genuinely nice white guy with both executive and legislative experience. For those emotionally unpersuaded voters, he’ll be a beacon of reassuring familiarity. May they flock to him like very nervous moths.
And frankly, as high as the stakes are this cycle, Clinton ought to be able to count on her base, whoever she picked for VP. The prospect of a chief executive who neither understands nor respects separation of powers, how the national debt works, the status of international treaties, civil rights issues, or any other basic principle of our government should be more than enough excitement to get us to the polls.