Hosts of Hillary haters

Everyone seems to like Barack Obama but the Hillary haters are legion. I've been trying to discover why. Sexism and even misogynism may explain some of it. For instance this attack regarding the recent TV ad:

I watched, transfixed, as she took the 3 a.m. call...and I was afraid...very afraid. Suddenly, I realized the last thing this country needs is that woman anywhere near a phone. I don't care if it's 3 a.m. or 10 p.m. or any other time. I don't want her talking to Putin, I don't want her talking to Kim Jong Il, I don't want her talking to my nephew. She needs a long rest. She needs to put on a sarong and some sun block and get away from things for a while, a nice beach somewhere -- somewhere far away, where there are...no phones.
On the Red Phone, Larry David (Huffington Post 6 March 2008)

Perhaps Bill Clinton's patchy record resounds with many. If so there is a lot of irony in the use of "that woman" in these remarks.

Is this the same Hillary Clinton we find in this endorsement of her by Natalie Portman:

I also like Obama. I even like McCain. I disagree with his war stance--which is a really big deal--but I think he's a very moral person. I met him and Hillary on the same day, actually, when I went to Washington with Finca [a nonprofit that gives loans to businesswomen in developing countries]. Hillary was by far the smartest person I met that day. Just totally focused, and knew more about the issues than anyone else, and was so able to go from one thing to the other.
THE NATURAL (Elle April 2008)

The extract on Huffington Post is headed "Natalie Portman defends Hillary Clinton". "Defends" not "praises".

The use of language is everything in politics: realist v cynic, vocal v carping, pragmatic v unprincipled, passionate v volatile, thoughtful v cunning, focussed v obsessive, compromise v sellout, ambitious v power hungry, strong v aggressive, flexible v erratic, mature v post menopausal. The last one I took from the comments on Larry David's post.

The personal attacks on Hillary often rely on emotive language: scary, crazy, insane, traitor, fanatical and more topically monster. This was just a quick sample from comments on the more liberal blogs.

These words come to mind to describe some of her critics: aggressive, cynical, volatile, obsessive and carping. I will not question their sanity.

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