Viewpoint: The World of Hillary Hatred

Conservatives hate her for being liberal. If she deviates from that playbook, they think she's phony. That's why Clinton is stuck in a trap of acrimony

Stan Honda / AFP / Getty

A small plane tows a sign advertising an anti-Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton web site.

It's a paradox of this election season that the most conservative candidate in the Democratic presidential field is the one most hated by conservatives. Hillary Clinton will not make extravagant promises about pulling American troops from Iraq, defends declaring elements of Iran's Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization and won't endorse massive new payroll taxes to fund Social Security. For this, she is attacked by rivals to her left, who are then cheered on by conservatives.

Welcome to the world of Hillary hatred, which will be a fixture of our politics for at least the next year if she wins the Democratic...

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