Ms. McEwan:
Your article really hit a nerve, a big nerve, kind of like a root canal! Even old feminists, such as myself, were chastised by old and young, and were beaten bloody because we were “just supporting Hillary because she was a women.” Yes, that was part of it, of course it was, it was what we’d wanted our entire lives. But, there was an incredible level of respect and trust that had been built over 37+ years. We shared her convictions, her politics, outrage at women like Phyllis Schlafly, at the defeat of the ERA, at the slow pace of change, the legal challenges, and at a lot of male politicians from both Parties.
But the last straw was the “unlikability”. Promoted for years by political adversaries of both parties, it became the source of all things anti-Hillary. She spoke to Bankers, that made her “unlikable”. Her friends made her “unlikable”. Too much money made her “unlikable”, and I would argue that Bernie made her “unlikable”. His penchant for “over promising” on issues that were “just highly improbable” made her “unlikable”. She wasn’t mad enough, she wasn’t loud enough, she wasn’t poor enough, and she wore pants suits. Oh yes, and she was a women and “unlikable”!