2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I've never understood why Kerry did not face the same level of wrath from Democrats over [View all]Chathamization
(1,638 posts)It encouraged opposition to Kerry and Clinton somewhat in the '04 and '08 primaries, because opposition to IWR is important to a certain segment of the Democratic base (I'd say that's a good thing). But the public at large doesn't seem to care that much, and even within the Democratic party it isn't that important these days.
It simply wasn't a big issue in '16 - Clinton was only asked about it a couple of times, and the general consensus in the media was that foreign policy was Clinton's strength. Even people who dislike Clinton usually put it way down on their list of complaints about her, much lower than Kerry '04 or Clinton '08. Sure, you're more likely to hear Clinton criticized for it these days than to hear Kerry criticized for it - but that's because Clinton was running for president and we just had a primary. It's the same reason was you were much more likely to hear Kerry get criticized for it than Biden get criticized for it in '04 - not because people had a bias against Kerry or in favor of Biden, but because that's what happens when you run for a high-profile position.