Very interesting.

They never talk about the likability of male candidates.

It's plain, in your face, sexism and misogyny from our "liberal" pals in the MSM!

for him it seems not to matter.

And didn't matter for Trump.

Calling him 'stiff and awkward', while giving George W. Bush a free pass on his mean-spiritedness, and fratboy sense of humor.

But now that we have Democratic women running, it's all they have. If Nikki Haley ran, they would gush over her, I'm guessing.

And she's not all that likeable. Or smart.

It's so effing bogus, no matter who they're discussing

While Clinton and Obama were considered very likable. It's interesting that Warren, Kerry, Romney and Dukakis are all from Massachusetts as well. That seems to be the standard line, they can't relate to middle America.

It's also amazing that Bush's likability was 55-60% around the 2004 election and Kerry could never get out of the 40s.

Daytime MSNBC is full of pushing this kind of crap.

I can stomach Tweety sometimes because I accept his style.

I also like Velshi & Ruhle a lot. Separate or together.

I like your idea! Velshi is up there with the best.

Or that woman

Oh no, not that woman either

Or that woman


Or that woman

Or that woman

Or that woman

Or that woman

Or that woman

Or that woman

But I'm totally not a misogynist. Really.

"some of my best friends are women...my own mother is a woman!"

...equalizing.

He is such a likeable MF'er.

As if beautiful translates to smart.

and they want to talk about HER likability?

for age, likeability, prior experience in office, criminality or a number of marriages and kids by different spouses. Their credibility is shot for good.

Gee, what could it be.

It was sort of like that thing, I can't quite put my finger on what it was, that made Obama seem "different" from other candidates.

Rarely if ever don’t watch Msnbc for that reason.

out for that BS!

of Hillary and trump with the CEO giving accolades to Lauer for his treatment of Hillary. The sexual harasser kept interrupting Hillary, and wouldn’t let her answer the question. For trump, he let him go on on with softball questions, and no follow up on trump’s falsehoods.

Note this isn’t only against Warren, Pelosi, Ocasio-Cortez are also targets of sexism.

The NY Times was more nterested in Pelosi’s hot pink dress, than the historical event that was occurring in one of their tweets last week. There was enough push back that they removed the tweet and apologized

Warren's my first choice right now. The pundits are trying to make her "controversial" and trying to Dean-scream her.

does sarah huckabee sanders have a problem with "likability"?

how about susan collins?

ooh, cindy hyde-smith! now there's someone really contemptible. has the media ever referred to her as having "likability issues"?

It would make more sense to ask if the media reported on Carly Fiorina's likability.

But, I don't think this 'standard' is (or should be) gender based.

they pretty much never call *any* republican "unlikable".

ok, even limiting it to republican women presidential candidates.

fiorina? michelle bachman? elizabeth dole?

they never call *them* "unlikable".

it's only democratic women who are somehow, inexplicably, "unlikable".

Dukakis, Kerry, Kennedy, Romney, etc. The media will attempt to use it against Warren also.

in fact i don't recall that particular word being used for any of those men. they use other words for men.

dukakis was called robotic, kerry was called aloof, kennedy was called elitist. well, every democratic, especially from new england, is called elitists.

not saying the word is never used for men, i mean, there's always ted cruz. but "unlikable" seems to be more of a go-to criticism against women.

Last edited Tue Jan 8, 2019, 05:27 PM - Edit history (1)

Voters don't see Kerry as likable: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/may/3/20040503-125329-1073r/

For Dukakis, the challenge to be likable: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1988/10/02/for-dukakis-a-challenge-to-be-likable/f521be5d-9427-4dc0-bd8d-76215a104285/

Why isn't Romney likable enough? :
https://www.politico.com/story/2012/03/why-isnt-romney-likeable-enough-073913

bad link for the dukakis story, but i'll take your word for it.

Yeah, it's a real media tactic or phenomenon but I don't believe it's solely directed at women, Hillary and Trump both had horrible numbers so they cancelled each other out on likability.

I saw Terry McAuliffe mentioned in an article today (that he's waiting to see what Biden does or something), he won't ever fare well for likability nationally. Biden had a likability number of 36% in the 2008 VP debate while Palin was around 60%, but Obama easily was more likable than McCain or Romney, it's interesting to study.

at least for the great majority of candidates.

a few a genuine disasters and no media campaign can make them "likable".
conversely, a few have such charisma that no smear campaign can make them "unlikable".

but for the rest of them, a concerted effort one way or the other can really change image and electoral prospects.

and it's so stupid, because aside from those outliers, it doesn't make much difference in terms of actual governance.


one things for sure, donnie is the most unlikable president we've had in ages, he's far more unlikable than tricky dick imho.
but the media certainly doesn't harp on how unlikable he is. in fact, they harp far more on how much his fans adore him, even if they are only 39%....

my mom (a college graduate) told me when I was a young girl that if I wanted boys to like me, or ever wanted a husband, I should behave sweetly, look pretty and smile a lot. Also, I should never correct a man or let on if I knew more than he did about something.

Elizabeth Warren needs to shape up!

During her weekend rallies, she was asked good/tough questions by people in the audience. However, the reporters following her asked stupid misogynistic questions.

Do not watch him. He does not change. He is the Equalizer Robot.

Hillary was over-rehearsed and scripted. She rubbed *a lot* of people the wrong way. Warren isn't scripted, just -- for lack of a better term -- "low energy." Her style is more suited to the classroom and she has trouble getting her audience excited and emotionally involved unless they are already part of her choir. And the fact that she's almost 70 doesn't help her connect with younger audiences.

Warren's not the first candidate to suffer these handicaps. They can be overcome, especially with a charismatic running mate. But they also mean she can be defeated by someone with less substance and more flash.

Personally I love Hillary.

Along with JFK and, to a lesser extent, Bill Clinton and Reagan.

Personality goes a *long* way in determining how easily you can inspire followers. It's a sad but true oddity of human evolution.

who have been on presidential tickets, you apparently expected at least one of them to be accepted as having a magnetic personality.

public personas, and Trump is anything but magnetic. He's repulsive and dull-witted.

Plenty of boring and unlikeable people get into office every year. But, as a general rule, when you're at the top of the ticket, being likeable is a huge advantage. When people develop an emotional affinity for you, it doesn't matter what kind of logical arguments your opponent uses. Style and intangibles very often trump substance.

that's the issue.

Governors like Ann Richards and Jennifer Granholm spring more readily to mind. Gillibrand and Harris might have the quality but we haven't really seen too much national campaigning/stumping/speeches from them so it's hard to say. The majority of women I've seen with magnetic personalities seem to be in show business rather than politics.

The vast majority of men don't have "magnetic" personalities either. You're attempting to use a self-selected outlier group (a handful of presidents out of the billion or so people who have lived in this country for the past century) to demonstrate that likeability is sexist.

It reeks of sexism.

and pedantic.

Politics is very superficial. Trump gets attacked not just for being a racist proto-fascist, but also for saying "Okay" compulsively and wearing a fake spray tan and a comically oversized tie.

There's plenty of sexism in the American electorate, but dismissing any criticisms of a candidate's likeability as sexist isn't the answer.

Has a wonderful lightness and cheerfulness, takes no prisoners, is highly huggable, has great energy and charm, and never deviates from her goal to protect us, and can explain financial criminality so we can understand it, so what the hell is magnetism if it isn’t her natural attraction?

again just for emphasis!

and he was over 70.

I sure in the fuck hope not

Just pissed.

in America? Because back in 2012 that is exactly what Hillary Clinton was.

MUST include the 45 of Mangoes or it's useless IMHO

MSM corporations feel threatened.

Last edited Tue Jan 8, 2019, 03:05 PM - Edit history (2)

Let me state up front that I am a big Elizabeth Warren fan. I had lived in MA for 54 years and voted for her. I have aphoto of my oldest daughter standing side by with the Senator in her office in D.C. .

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/9/18/16305486/what-really-happened-in-2016

"Trump and Clinton were the No. 1 and No. 2 least-popular nominees on record,"

"This set the stage for the unusual campaign dynamic. Instead of the usual tussle to obtain the votes of people who had a broadly favorable impression of both candidates, Trump and Clinton were in a slug-fest where the pivotal voters disliked both of them and — in many cases — ended up voting for neither."

As a result both Johnson and Stein revieved more votes then they did in 2016.
"Stein nearly tripled her support to 1.06 percent and Johnson more than tripled it to 3.27 percent. Evan McMullin, who basically only ran in Utah, got a larger share of the vote in 2016 than Stein had gotten in 2012.

And the third-party vote made a big difference in the aggregate. Trump carried Arizona, Utah, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin with less than 50 percent of the vote. Clinton did the same in Maine, New Hampshire, Virginia, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, and Colorado."

If likeabilty were necessary to be elected, how did Trump make it?

and happily voted for Hillary in the General, I find both of these women to be capable leaders and, FWIW, eminently likable.

I will gladly support Warren in the General if she’s the nominee, and I may well support her in the Primary — a bit early to be sure about that yet, but she’s great and I wish her all the best.

....because, quite frankly, Hillary Clinton wasn't "likeable" either. It wasn't why she was running, and it wasn't her attribute (I talked to her several times and never had the feeling that she was letting her guard down, unlike, say Bill Clinton. I also had dinner once with Bernie, and he was far more easy-going and approachable). She had many positive attributes that in MY book made her the choice for President, but Likeability wasn't one of them, and since some people will make a candidate selection on that basis, it doesn't bother me if the media discusses it.

and never on Trump's.

It should bother you that they're using a misogynistic playbook.

...but I see plenty of coverage about how low his popularity is, and how it's limited to his base.

the go to for misogynists who really want to say, "She may be the best candidate, but a woman can't win because as a man I will not vote for her." GRRRRR, wish I could tell these TV guests on air how ignorant and unlikable they are.

1) There’s no truth in any of it.
2) Pretty easy to recycle the old Hillary Clinton lies.
3) Doesn’t address the (lack of) likability of 45, Pence, McConnell, or any other psycho Republicans (take your pick).

I can’t believe these responses from DUers!

I'm was pointing out the idiocy of MSNBC for pushing this bullshit.

to indicate some DUers’ responses.

I apologize!

No worries!

Pure misogyny that's built into our culture at the moment. Will take time to weed it out.

A dick it seems to be permissible.

Why are these viewpoints so abhorrent when taken about some candidates, but cheered agen taken about others?

kind of early to be working for trump

..... “Yes, Grasshopper. But can any man afford such arrogance?”

is likable. Why are they comparing her to Hillary? She is her own person.

Elizabeth Warren IS likable so why compare the two?

Warren is an entirely different person than Hillary. The moron who said that obviously thinks all blond women are alike.

… likable. So did the majority of Democrats - and a majority of the American people. Hillary Clinton was the most admired woman in America for many years, until Michelle Obama too over this year. I've heard she's very likable is most other countries, too. I know Russia is an exception. I think Elizabeth Warren has great potential to join Hillary as a very likable person... to be likable as a politician is a great feat!

I recall seeing many if not all MSNBC people repeating that off the cuff as if it was a fact

It made me puke.

What would you do to continue receiving $1.4 trillion kickbacks?