Clare Foran, The Atlantic – September 17, 2016
Hillary Clinton can’t be trusted because she’ll do anything to win. That’s what several participants in a focus group of thirty undecided voters moderated by Republican strategist Frank Luntz on Friday in Alexandria, Virginia seemed to believe. At least some of the group of Democratic, Republican and Independent-leaning voters felt the first woman to win the presidential nomination of a major U.S. political party was too ambitious.
Rebecca Onion, Slate – September 16, 2016
The cover of this week’s National Enquirer features a wan, gray Hillary Clinton, looking like she has been drained of all her vital fluids. The photograph, if you can call it that, is a perfect visual artifact of the recent storm of right-wing rumormongering over Clinton’s health, which spilled into the mainstream media this past weekend when Clinton revealed a pneumonia diagnosis that would keep her off the campaign trail for a few days while she underwent treatment.
Jill Greenlee, Mirya Holman, and Rachel VanSickle-Ward, Washington Post – April 10, 2016
Scuffles like these are highly unlikely to change the overall trajectory of the race, but they are troubling for this key reason: Attacks on female candidates as being “ambitious” or “unqualified” are exactly the reason that so many qualified women don’t run for political office in the first place.
Rebecca Traister, New York Magazine – The Cut – April 7, 2016
On Tuesday night, following Bernie Sanders’s big win in the Wisconsin primary, his campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, understandably jazzed in the midst of a victory lap, said a really stupid sexist thing about Hillary Clinton.
Liz Plank, Vox – April 6, 2016
Hillary Clinton has been advised to do a lot of things on the campaign trail: smile more, speak with a softer voice, stop being so mad. Bernie Sanders’s campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, adds another one to the list: have less ambition.
Sady Doyle, Quartz – February 25, 2016
Yet it seems odd that even when Clinton ascends to ever-greater positions of power—from first lady to senator, from senator to secretary of state—we start liking her again once she’s landed the job. It’s not her success that seems to arouse ire, but the act of campaigning itself.
Deborah Tannen, Washington Post – February 22, 2016
Voters of all ages must ask whether the lens through which they view Clinton is being clouded by these invisible yet ubiquitous forces. To make sure they’re seeing clearly, they need to understand — and correct for — the double bind.
Jennifer Jacobs, Des Moines Register – December 3, 2015
“Hillary Clinton’s life revolves around her political ambitions and that’s why she changes her views based on the public sentiment of the here and now. I mean, her views on Syria have changed four times. … We don’t need another hyper-political president,” he said.
Chris Matthews, MSNBC – April 9, 2015
He said her run for the White House is a case of “personal political ambition.” When did having ambition become a disqualifier? More to the point, when did it become an attack line in partisan campaigning?