Maybe it's not new. If memory serves there were cases of would be suicides delaying on the ledge till some crowd members started to shout "jump".

Whether that's true,  one thing of which I'm convinced is that there has been an increase in giving lip service to

a cult of perfection. We're not willing to accept the " good enough"  anything : mother, banker (yes!), candidate, 

police chief. Or rather we're not willing to admit that we are willing to accept the  "good enough" when it suits us. When it's "our" banker, police chief etc.

Reading Al Franken's new book, I'm struck by the number of Republicans who are reviled here whom he found

himself liking, perhaps admiring While still ,correctly, completely rejecting their politics. Jeff Sessions for example.  

edited to correct spelling of Franken's name

There's been others, but no essay has made it any clearer to me what the problem is and the only problem and it's very simple:

She's not likeable! The way she is does not endear her to people.

I know you don't get this, because as you've said more than once, you genuinely like her, and that in itself is a mystery because you seem an average person along those lines.

I myself don't like her but I don't need to like someone I vote for, I just want them to be able to do the job. She is an example of way past qualified on that front.

The only tumor on our body politic as I see it is one that comes with democracy: lots of people vote on personality and whether they like the personality. It comes with this form of government unless you limit voters to Vulcans only.

People do not empathize or sympathize with people with disagreeable personalities. They are sad when someone they like or feel warmly about is seriously ill or dies. When that happens to someone they don't like, they are hopefully civil and gracious about commenting, but secretly they are really thinking: bitch/bastard's karma.

She's a pill, admit it! She gives off: cold; almost bitchy sometimes (I think maybe an asset for her in past roles and would be same as president, BUT it doesn't make her likeable.)   A too earnest nerd, the best student in the class lording it over everyone else. She really does give off the attitude: I know better than anyone else. Her sense of humor is arcane, I can see how many would think it elitist. Kate McKinnon's parody on SNL helped humanize her a bit from the feminazi caricature her own public behavior and quips and personality contributes to, but it came too late.

Her husband, on the other hand, is extremely likeable.He gives off: warm, friendly. I dare say he would get the same reaction as McCain except from those minority of visceral haters who think his shtick is all a "slick willy" act. People will be sad when he is gone. He also knows how to wonk without lording it over people, as a matter of fact he would make an excellent teacher, everyone's favorite. Him leaving this earth would leave a hole in people's lives, a character they would like to always be there; Hillary: not so much. Honor her accomplishments, but not miss her.

Obama is cool, cold, and has the elite thing but he also has oodles of sexy, eloquence, a way with words, sarcastic but with the facial expressions and other gestures that soften that and make it funny. Hillary: not any of those things. 

Her problem was pegged well by Time Magazine here as regards his famous "you're likeable enough, Hillary" quip:

In the hotly contested 2008 Democratic presidential primary, Obama relied early and often on his charisma to win over voters still on the fence about the freshman Senator. Cracking jokes and smiles at the numerous debates, he was able to distinguish himself from the frequent stern looks and sober policy explanations of his rival, Hillary Clinton [....]

Don't you remember the Hillary hate from Obamabot liberals at TPM Cafe in 2008? Lots of genuine hate, same thing: disliked her personality, from her elitist holier-than-thou persona felt she would lie, cheat and steal to climb over everyone else rather than be honest. I know she's not like that, but I've read a lot on her. To this day, I think she does present like that in her public persona. (And to that I would say: good attributes for a president, she/he doesn't have to be likeable. But what comes along with that: people do not have empathy or sympathy for you.)

As to John McCain. While he gets stern about matters of national security, he is otherwise: very warm and charming and especially: constantly practices humility in personal interaction, something he probably learned from being a P.O.W. Hillary doesn't have a humble bone in her body, she fights instead. Remember how McCain handled the nut at his town hall calling Obama an Arab? Quietly and with dignity, not by being feisty. He's always respectful of everyone.

His Saturday Night Live appearances were always self-deprecating. I just can't imagine Hillary being self-deprecating. This recent photo is the McCain that is popular with colleagues, the media and a lot of the public, the warmth is in the smile:

Unfortunately for him, when he'd be serious about campaigning for president and on issues, it didn't transfer. And people who vote white papers and facts knows where he stands: on the far right on a lot of issues, much further than the population at large.

But he will be mourned by a great many when lost, same with Bill and Barack. Hillary: I'm not so sure. There is nothing to bind her to people to make them miss her. I know so many who voted for her either with an "eh" or "far better of two evils." Not at all because of likeability, much more like this: wish she was still Sec. of State, don't know if I can stand seeing her talk every day, at least she's not Trump.

P.S. Bernie has his own different unlikeability problem, and that's a whole nother thing, goes with prejudice against a certain ethnic style. Some people just will never like that style. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say: Trump has some of that, too, even though they don't have ethnic background in common. It's the New York thing.