Parry writes: "Barack Obama once called Hillary Clinton 'likable enough,' but a new poll raises doubts about that, as the Democratic frontrunner's net-negative has nearly doubled to 24 points."
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. (photo: Scott Olson/Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
Democrats March Toward Cliff
20 April 16
Barack Obama once called Hillary Clinton �likable enough,� but a new poll raises doubts about that, as the Democratic frontrunner�s net-negative has nearly doubled to 24 points, reports Robert Parry.
s Democratic-insider �super-delegates� give Hillary Clinton a seemingly insurmountable lead for the presidential nomination, the former Secretary of State�s negative ratings continue to soar to stunning levels, hitting a net 24-point unfavorable in the new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll.
It is hard to imagine someone who is viewed unfavorably by a clear majority of voters (56 percent) and with a net-negative of 24 points winning the White House, except that most voters also don�t like the top Republican choices either. Donald Trump sports a 41-point net-negative and Sen. Ted Cruz is at minus-23 points. (By contrast, of the two trailing candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders gets a net-positive 9 points and Gov. John Kasich a net-positive 12 points.)
But a major difference between Trump and Clinton in the latest poll is that Trump�s numbers haven�t moved much while Clinton�s net-negative has almost doubled in the last month. In other words, the more Americans get to see of Clinton the more they don�t want her.
While Clinton�s dismal approval ratings haven�t seemed to have shaken the Democratic establishment, which continues to line up behind her long-anticipated coronation, some outside analysts see the party leaders blindly marching toward a cliff.
Despite Sanders�s string of victories, Clinton still leads him in elected delegates, but her daunting lead comes from her dominance of �super-delegates,� party insiders who are not chosen by primaries or caucuses but still get to vote at the convention. According to The Associated Press tally, Clinton has 1,289 elected delegates to Sanders�s 1,045, but she has the backing of 469 �super-delegates� to Sanders�s 31. To win requires 2,383 delegates.
So, if Clinton�s eventual nomination is inevitable, the Democrats will be putting up a candidate who is broadly disliked by the American people. That means a Clinton candidacy will require massive spending on negative ads to make the Republican candidate so frightening in the eyes of most Americans that they will vote for Clinton out of fear, not hope.
There�s also the irony that although most attention has focused on the Republican need for a brokered convention � to block a Trump nomination � an argument could be made that the Democrats would benefit from a brokered convention themselves.
If neither Clinton nor Sanders could clinch the nomination on the first ballot, that could open the process to allow the party to select an alternative who has not been in the race, someone such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, an economic populist who is beloved by Sanders�s backers and a woman who might be acceptable to Clinton supporters wanting the first female President.
Still, such a possibility does not appear to be in the cards. The odds remain heavily weighted in favor of Clinton securing the nomination and the Democrats then trying to make the best of her soaring unfavorable numbers.
In a 2008 debate, addressing a question about Clinton�s high negatives, then-Sen. Barack Obama condescendingly opined that �you�re likable enough, Hillary.� But it turns out Obama may have been overstating the case. With her current unfavorable level at 56 percent � and only 32 percent holding a favorable view � many voters seem to be saying, she�s not likable enough.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America�s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com). You also can order Robert Parry�s trilogy on the Bush Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes America�s Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.
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here I wrote 9 days ago:
Activista 2014-07-01 10:53
"Hamas in Gaza responded Monday evening to the discovery of the bodies of the three Israeli teens, kidnapped on June 12, denying complicity in the kidnapping and blaming Israel for "preparing the ground" for an attack against Gaza."
www.haaretz.com - I find Haaretz or Hamas more trutworthy than Israeli/USA mass media ...
That Israel will use its propaganda blitzkrieg to attack Iran (now IF but when).
Because many Conservatives are still living in the 1950's, when "Left Wing Media Bias" actually had some small truth to it? And for those who know better and craft GOP narratives, because it still plays with the ignorant base, getting them to drink the Corporate Kool-Aid voluntarily?
I wonder if they'd be quite so gleeful, though, if they realize that what they're really admitting is that (1) our intelligence services are vulnerable to being led by the nose by those willing to provide false information which fits their (right-leaning) institutionaliz ed prejudices, and (2) conservatives are more than happy to provide such false information, even when they know, or have good reason to know, that it is false. Or, to put it another way, that our spy agencies are suckers for right-wing disinformation, and right-wingers are happy to sucker them.
I always laugh at this chestnut. My come-back is always that this take solely suggests is that the GOP are very effective liars, not that some liberals being duped by them provides any proof that deliberate lies weren't being told. Any psychologist will tell you that Sociopaths are always good at lying.
Now Miller works at FOX news and Gordon is still the well greased conduit for the lies of the military industrial complex.
There is no "free press" in the US. The major media are simply conduits for the ruling elites to tell the masses what they intend to do. They inform the masses so the masses will support the actions, such as a war against Iraq or the funding of a coup d'etat in Ukraine.
There's nothing to say about Anders Fogh Rassmussen. He's simply a whore. He does what the ruling elites tell him to do. There's no lie that is too disgusting to him. There's no amount of wanton killing that he's not willing to authorize. that's why his career has been so successful. He's a political whore of the first order.
We've a saying: "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never harm me." I agree that people like Anders Fogh Rassmussen and Benjamin Netanyahu aren't the nicest people in the world, and calling them names may make one feel good, but it's not going to change anything unfortunately.
I am somewhat depressed right now because the only country in the world today that I thought could've changed anything, that could've stood up to the U.S., that could've opposed U.S. world domination, has just capitulated its power away to the United States, and that country is Russia. I refer you to the following short article that came out today:
http://seekingalpha.com/news/1839155-russia-not-interfering-as-ukraine-surrounds-donetsk
Putin has just told the United States of the world that it will not stand up to the U.S. and that the U.S. is virtually free to do whatever it wants to do in the world today.
Name calling doesn't work when you're dealing with very thick-skinned people, people who are absent a conscience and a soul, evil wicked people.
Anyone who depends on any corporate media outlet for accurate information should have their heads examined.
Remember, one definition of insanity is to continue the same behavior expecting different results.
What if we ignored the NYT? Would it figure out it needed to provide accurate information?