Hillary Clinton’s campaign is feeling awfully pleased with itself after the Democratic front runner beat Bernie Sanders in the New York primary, as everyone expected she would.
One anonymous senior aide was feeling especially brave. “We kicked his ass tonight,” the aide told a Politico reporter on Tuesday. Maybe the (predicted) loss would teach the 74-year-old socialist not to criticize the former carpetbagging senator from New York. “I hope this convinces Bernie to tone it down,” the aide continued. “If not, f*ck him.”
Senior Clinton aide talks tough anonymously: https://t.co/aIC377UodG pic.twitter.com/zUpbm3dDTU
— Michael Calderone (@mlcalderone) April 20, 2016
There is something almost charming about the Clinton campaign’s salty bravado this deep into a primary election most people assumed she would win running away. She hasn’t done that, exactly. After losing the Iowa caucus in February, Hillary has become locked in a surprisingly close and contentious race against this guy:
Meanwhile, Clinton’s national polling advantage has evaporated, as Sanders continues to crush her among young voters, a demographic that presumably is not impressed by the bland and condescending tone of her campaign.
Hillary remains one of the most unpopular frontrunners of all time, as Dan Balz explains in the Washington Post:
Clinton’s image is at or near record lows among major demographic groups. Among men, she is at minus 40. Among women, she is at minus nine. Among whites, she is at minus 39. Among white women, she is at minus 25. Among white men, she is at minus 72. Her favorability among whites at this point in the election cycle is worse than President Obama’s ever has been, according to Bill McInturff, a Republican pollster who conducted the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll with Democratic pollster Peter Hart.
Still, Hillary has reason to feel confident heading into the general election. Donald Trump’s overwhelming win in the GOP primary in New York means Republicans are one step closer to nominating perhaps the only person in America more widely disliked than she is.
