Hillary Clinton had favorability polls in the mid-60's - until she became the candidate against DJT.

[kentuck]

It was all strange and new territory, the name-calling, the insults, the racism, the misogyny, etc. The Trump campaign was a novelty campaign that could not be fully comprehended.

Hillary had rehabilitated her image after Bill's unseemly exit from the Presidency. She was highly respected by about 65% of the people, in some polls, until she was attacked by the tactics and language of Donald Trump and the Republican Party. She had been a successful and hard-working Secretary of State, although heavily criticized for the Benghazi attacks on our CIA agents, until she was called to carry the banner for the Democratic Party. Our country was not accustomed to such a style of politics, at that time.

The personal attacks and the name-calling were especially crude and disrespectful. It was not the proudest moment in American politics.

Was Hillary as disliked, as most in the media are now reporting, or was she more of a victim of character assassination by Trump and the Republicans?

[betsuni]

1. Thank you, but she was a victim of character assassination from not just Trump and Republicans.

Corrupt, neoliberal, status quo, Wall St., corporatist, establishment, third way, elite, centrist, identity politics, ideologically and morally bankrupt, beholden to the "donor class" and oligarchs and lobbyists, lesser of two evils, racist, warmonger, weathervane, liar, etc. That wasn't coming from Republicans.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. Yes

She was hated pretty equally by the far left and far right. Biden is not liked much by the left either but more people are willing to hold their nose to vote for him to get rid of Trump.

[groundloop]

14. HOLD THEIR NOSE..... I DON'T THINK SO

I resent it when people claim their 'holding their nose' to vote for Biden, and it doesn't do us any favors. That statement is right up there with claiming that both parties are the same, or that Biden is only marginally better than tRump.

[LizBeth]

15. +1 and the primary all the way thru.

[beachbumbob]

2. you need to review the approval record, Hillary was 50% and under

from Fall of 2013 way before trump came into play,


https://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/hillary-clinton-favorable-rating

[kentuck]

3. And this:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/154742/hillary-clinton-maintains-near-record-high-favorability.aspx

And this:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/224330/hillary-clinton-favorable-rating-new-low.aspx

[NewJeffCT]

5. She had a great approval rating when she left her SoS job

and then Republicans went to work attacking her because they knew she was the presumptive favorite to win in 2016.

The Benghazi machine cranked up over the next 3-4 years to throw red meat to the GOP base, drive up fundraising and all the noise from the GOP eventually crept into the maintream.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. +1

And Republicans (I think including Meadows) flat out admitted that that was the intended result of all of their Benghazi conspiracy theory-mongering.

[karynnj]

7. Look at the data in the second article

There was a strong downward slope in favorability and increase in not favorable starting in 2013. The article speaks of 2015-2016, but the turning point is very clearly 2013. Incidentally, had they said 2013-2016 the point would still have been the same. Though she announced in 2015, there was no question that she was almost certain to run starting in 2013.

In 2013, few would have thought Trump would be the Republican nominee.

[Arazi]

13. As soon as it became apparent that she'd run in 2013, her favorability dropped

It's one thing to be a public servant, an entirely other thing to be President.

A lot of people just viscerally did not want her to be President. She (and her most fervent supporters) would never acknowledge that.

Still can't

[Happyhippychick]

4. She was attacked just as viciously by the Bernie Bros, remember Susan Sarandon?

Trump and the Republicans didn’t need to do a thing when they had people like her attacking Hillary at every chance.

[AmericanCanuck]

8. THIS

That is when her downward trajectory started

[WyLoochka]

6. She was wrongfully lied about and maligned

She had a very high favorability rating after working hard as a Senator and serving with distinction as Secretary of State. Trey Gowdy and other Repubs said the relentless hammering on Benghazi and emails was specifically drummed up in order to bring her ratings down.

The viciousness worked. I am dismayed at the number of people who rally in support of cruelty. It is still working with far too many. Americans are becoming known as mean people. We will be pariahs in the world if we can't overcome the mean November 3.

[Skraxx]

9. Definitely a Victim of Character Assassination from the Right AND the Left

I was incredibly disappointed in A LOT of Dems and people on the left who bought into it. It was revolting.

[LizBeth]

16. +1

[jcgoldie]

10. misogyny

Sure her approval ratings were in the 60s until that uppity woman had the gall think she could run for president....

[ffr]

17. K&R Character Assassination and those in the media jealous of her popularity

Plus the horserace stories they kept at until people began believing that same E-mail story must be true, it's all the news outlets, all of the news outlets (Andrea Mitchell) were talking about.

Not one positive story about the fact, as you mention, her rock star popularity when she's in office. People are certainly okay with her then, just not as a candidate, Andrea?