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Monday, September 14, 2015

Chicago Trib item, headlined, "Is Hillary Clinton a liberal Mitt Romney?" Mitt fans might not prejudge whether the item will turn out to be a hit piece, or take some unexpected spin.

From early in this item:

The real problem conservatives have with Clinton is that they hate her, and they have hated her for so long she has become Voldemort to their Harry Potter. The hatred dates back, of course, to Bill Clinton's presidency and it has grown through the years, fed and watered by the Clintons' proclivity for arrogance and deception.

I'm not saying the hatred is justified, simply that it exists, and it exists to a degree that may well exceed the intense dislike Republicans have for President Barack Obama. That's saying something, because they REALLY can't stand that guy.

Being disliked by the opposition party is certainly not disqualifying. Whoever wins the Democratic presidential nomination will be painted by conservatives as pure evil wrapped in horribleness surrounded by malevolence — a turducken of tyranny. And the GOP nominee will be described by liberals as a zombie Ayn Rand come to devour America's poor and lay waste to all that is good and kind.

But people who aren't on the right and left fringes will look at each candidate and consider more than just policy positions. Is the candidate relatable? Trustworthy? Sincere?

That's where Hillary Clinton gets in trouble. The unexpected rise and staying power of Donald Trump and Ben Carson on the GOP side and Bernie Sanders on the Democratic side show a substantial desire for a leader who speaks from the heart, even if, in the case of Trump, that heart is filled with coal and cobwebs.

There's a desire for authenticity, something Clinton seems incapable of mustering. Like Romney, she is overly scripted and speaks as if a focus group is hiding somewhere in her mouth.

To that point, not too kind to Hillary or Mitt. Readers can, if interested, follow the item from that opening.