Fighter image carries costs for Clinton
Tough persona obscures likable side, some say
WASHINGTON - For many years, whenever a Republican senator looked for a Democrat to cosponsor a bill, one name popped immediately to mind - Hillary Clinton, according to South Carolina's senior senator, Lindsey Graham.
Collegial and quietly diligent, Clinton could be counted on to exhaustively work a bill through and cultivate support from both parties, according to numerous senators and aides interviewed by the Globe. This was, some say, the new Clinton that her presidential campaign wanted to reintroduce to voters - the Clinton who once described herself as "the most famous person nobody knows."
Fifteen months later, however, even some Clinton supporters concede that goal has been more difficult to achieve in the one-on-one campaign against Barack Obama, in which Clinton chose after her loss in the Iowa caucuses to define herself as a relentless fighter.
That harder-edged persona - intended to present her as tougher than Obama - has won her greater support among some elements of the electorate, especially blue-collar voters, pollsters say. But it has also come at a cost, as Clinton continues to be hamstrung by public impressions of her as divisive and untrustworthy.
Clinton's supporters say she is the victim of old, unfair images that are reinforced in the media. But some political specialists and lawmakers say the tone of Clinton's uphill campaign against Obama has underscored the side of the Clintons that some voters do not like.
Instead of tapping the nostalgia many Democrats have for the peace and prosperity of the Clinton White House years, many lawmakers in both parties said, the Clinton campaign has reinforced their opponents' characterization of a couple relentless in their quest for power.
"The campaign has been very little of what I call the charm offensive, or the ability to be able to see her as a person - it makes it hard for people to root for her," said Peter Hart, an unaffiliated Democratic pollster.
The irony is that Clinton's Senate career, by accounts of colleagues in both parties, has been marked by a genuine bipartisanship and respect for her fellow lawmakers.
Early in her Senate career, Clinton frequently worked the floor during votes, chatting amiably with fellow senators in both parties. She almost always made a point of walking over to greet the aged and ailing Senator Strom Thurmond - a South Carolina Republican who was once the symbol of Southern resistance to liberals like Clinton.
On legislation, Clinton has been cautious and bipartisan, often working across the aisle - "too much, for some of us," says Representative Maxine Waters, a staunchly liberal Clinton backer - on a wide array of issues. She has cosponsored 343 Republican bills, including one with former majority leader Bill Frist to modernize medical record-keeping.
While a reliable Democratic vote on such key issues as raising the minimum wage and opposing conservative judges, Clinton has also taken some unpredictable stands, such as her cosponsorship of a bill to ban flag burning.
"She's meticulous. She has mastered the most arcane details of public policy," said Representative Richard E. Neal, a Springfield Democrat supporting Clinton. Others said Clinton, unlike some colleagues, shows up for subcommittee markup sessions - the sometimes excruciating meetings to write legislation.
"If you get to know her, you like her," said Senator Olympia J. Snowe, a Maine Republican.
"No, no, no," said House minority leader John A. Boehner, when asked if Clinton was a divisive figure on the Hill.
But Obama backers say Clinton has obscured the likable sides of her personality by running a negative campaign. Her determination to take the nomination fight to the convention irritates some Democrats who think such a move will divide and weaken the party.
Comments by Clinton surrogates, including former congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro and former President Clinton, have fueled complaints that the campaign is using race to try to tarnish Obama.
"People come up to me and say, 'I can't believe I was such a loyal Clinton backer before,' " said Senator Richard J. Durbin, who has endorsed Obama, referring to criticisms of Obama that have emanated from Clinton's campaign. "It has taken a toll."
Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is very close to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, said the campaign has brought out a sense of entitlement in both Clintons, which has "reinforced the negatives." But he said he continues to like and respect Clinton as a colleague.
"If I had a problem, or if I was looking for a Democrat to cosponsor something, she would be one of the first people I would go to," he said.
Added Senator Ben Nelson, a Nebraska Democrat backing Obama: "Sometimes [in politics], it's hard to know why people like you. And it's also difficult to know why people don't like you. But anything that's perceived as negative in a campaign - even if it works - will increase your negatives."
Clinton is running negative ads against Obama in Pennsylvania, and dismissed as "just words" his promise to end the war in Iraq. Bill Clinton has aggravated some Democrats with his comments, and several Obama supporters on the Hill said they have been dressed down for their choice by Clinton campaign officials.
The hardball tactics seem to have turned off some voters. Hart, the unaffiliated Democratic pollster, recently conducted a survey showing that Clinton's negative rating among voters - currently 48 percent - is the highest it has been since March 2001.
"The key points I find in my surveys are, 'Can I like her?' And 'Can I trust her?' Both of those are clearly obstacles she faces at this stage," Hart said.
A Gallup poll last month showed just 44 percent of Americans believed Clinton is "honest and trustworthy," compared with 63 percent who described Obama as such, and 67 percent who called presumed GOP nominee John McCain honest. A recent Pew Research Center survey showed that 44 percent of voters had a somewhat or very negative view of Clinton. The same poll found that 45 percent of voters believed her "hard to like," and 46 percent called her "phony."
The polling numbers indicate that Clinton's early, much-vaunted effort to replicate the "listening tour" that won her key support in upstate New York ahead of her first Senate campaign have not changed many minds among voters.
"People think they [already] know a lot about her and because they think they know a lot about her, opinions are resistant to change," said Mark Mellman, a Democratic consultant who is not working for a presidential candidate.
Clinton's supporters say the New York lawmaker has no choice but to try to draw sharp distinctions between herself and Obama, who currently is about 130 delegates ahead of Clinton in the race for the nomination. But they say the depiction of her as ruthless is untrue and, to some eyes, sexist.
"Negatives about Hillary are primarily driven by people who are diametrically opposed to her - not on public policy, but on style, the fact that she's a woman, that she is strong," said Waters. "They're not accustomed to seeing a woman speak up." 