Maya Angelou vouches for Clinton

Hillary Clinton, battling perceptions that she's deceptive and trying to humanize an image, just had her campaign put out a "Dear Friend" letter from poet Maya Angelou that is effusive in its personal praise.

"I am inspired by her courage and her honesty. She is a reliable and trustworthy person. She is someone I not only admire but one for whom I have profound affection," writes Angelou, who is a professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, which hold its primary on May 6.

An ABC/Washington Post poll released last week found that 58 percent of Americans do not find her honest and trustworthy. That negative view has risen substantially during the protracted Democratic nomination race.

Clinton does not have any problems being viewed as tough and resilient, and Angelou also highlights those traits in her pitch.

"It may be easy to view Hillary Clinton through the narrow lens of those who would write her off or grind her down," writes Angelou, who read a poem at Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration. "Hillary sees us as we are, black and brown and white and yellow and pink and relishes our differences knowing that fundamentally we are all more alike than we are unalike. She is able to look through complexion and see community."

"She has endured great scrutiny, and still she dares greatly. Hillary Clinton will not give up on you, and all she asks is that you do not give up on her."