For decades, Hillary Clinton has attracted fervent, and conflicting, feelings, and this presidential run is no exception. Josh Robin filed the following report.
From time stumping for her husband to stumping for herself, Hillary Clinton has drawn plenty of opinions.
It's spawned countless commentaries, even a book. Plus many explanations.
"I am not a natural politician, in case you haven't noticed, like my husband or President Obama," Clinton said in a Univision interview on March 9.
Longtime observers argue it’s more complicated.
"For 25 years, every single day, she's been on the front page of the newspaper, and that just opens to door for people's commentary," said Jennifer Lawless, a professor at American University.
As first lady, her ratings climbed, tumbling during her botched health care rollout, surging after her husband's sex scandal, falling and rising as senator and presidential candidate, then secretary of state and White House contender again.
Current low marks are chalked up to distrust, lately over a private email server. Clinton says her private email use was a mistake, not a crime. Many counter it fits a pattern.
"Regardless of what time of year it was, or what year it was in the century, there was a scandal that plagued the Clintons," Lawless said.
Then, there is Clinton's gender. Reporter Jay Newton-Small argues voters subject all candidates to a likeability test, but her new book claims only women face a credibility test.
"As one pundit put it when Elizabeth Dole was running for office, they have to be capable of having their finger on the nuclear button at that time of the month, and not destroying Russia," Newton-Small said.
But Clinton is accused of overcompensating.
"Essentially, it's very easy for women to overshoot and become too tough and essentially be perceived as a bitch," Newton-Small said.
Clinton now speaks of the joys, and difficulties, of working mothers, sprinkling insights about her TV habits and her food choices, even yoga. She’s also made fun of her workaholic reputation.
Whether voters' hearts melt remains to be seen. If her rival remains Donald Trump, it may not even matter.