To me the issue with Hillary Clinton was not likability. I objected to her Neoliberalism and her coziness with Wall Street. Nevertheless I did vote for her. I viscerally disliked Trump however. I found, and still find him repugnant. I tried to “give him a chance” but he wouldn’t give me a chance. Now, after six months of him I hope that we may be rid of him at least within the next year. Tomorrow wouldn’t be too soon, except for Mike Pence and then Paul Ryan. Given the craziness of American public life at the moment I feel somewhat anesthetized — out of self protection.
No, likability wasn’t the issue. Hillary probably would’ve been a competent president. Possibly even a good one. But as a candidate she failed utterly to inspire. Both she and her campaign staff were simply, to be polite, ineffective. We will never know how many people voted for her because they could not abide the idea of Trump. Likewise we will never know how many people voted for Trump, or some other candidate or simply stayed at home, because they could not abide the idea of her being president.
She and Bill together are of a different world now. That goes as well for Nancy Pelosi. The only politicians that seem to be in touch with what is now going on in the country are Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. I don’t mean to say that Sanders or Warren would’ve beaten Trump last year or could do so in 2020. What I do mean to say and am saying is that the Clintons are toast politically, as they were last year — although they didn’t seem to know it, or at least they weren’t really willing to admit it to themselves or anybody else.