Why did Republicans hate Bill Clinton so much?

[Statilius the Epicurean]

I mean, apart from ordinary partisanship, which I guess is usually like 90% of the reason why anyone dislikes any politician from an opposing party. What did Clinton do in office which made Republicans listening to talk radio and the like think Clinton was an evil corrupt liberal undermining America? Why did Republicans get so whipped up about him that they invented scandals like he murdered Vince Foster to cover up Whitewater and then tried to impeach him over the Lewinsky scandal, when he governed as the most inoffensive, middle of the road Democrat possible?

[darklordoftech]

1. He ended the era in which the GOP could win 49 states.

2. He smoked weed, had a history of sex scandals, and never served in the military, yet he defeated HW, a war hero.

3. Waco Siege.

4. Hillary was unusually active for a First Lady.

5. Clintoncare.

6. The Assault Weapons Ban.

7. Gore's influence on Clinton's environmental policies (timber, coal, Kyoto, etc.)

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

Aside from NAFTA, Clinton was pretty left-wing in his first  two years.

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

1.Clinton supported legalized abortion, which pisses off about 50% of conservatives right off the bat.
2.He didn't hate gays, which pissed off an extra 40% or so.

[136or142]

Aside from NAFTA, Clinton was pretty left-wing in his first  two years.

Are we now acknowledging that proposing a budget that eliminates deficit spending is left wing?

[RINO Tom]

1.Clinton supported legalized abortion, which pisses off about 50% of conservatives right off the bat.
2.He didn't hate gays, which pissed off an extra 40% or so.

Yeah, gonna go ahead and guess those groups overlap a lot more than your comment suggests, and there weren't 40% of conservatives okay with his abortion stance as long as he kept bashin' gays!

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

Aside from NAFTA, Clinton was pretty left-wing in his first  two years.

Are we now acknowledging that proposing a budget that eliminates deficit spending is left wing?

Except Clinton didn't eliminate deficit spending his first two years. Actually that's when he had the biggest deficits...

[136or142]

Aside from NAFTA, Clinton was pretty left-wing in his first  two years.

Are we now acknowledging that proposing a budget that eliminates deficit spending is left wing?

Except Clinton didn't eliminate deficit spending his first two years. Actually that's when he had the biggest deficits...

Fine, the deficit declined from $290 billion under H.W Bush in 1992 to $255 billion in 1993 to $203 billion in 1994 on the way to a balanced budget.

[All Along The Watchtower]

What's not to hate?

[Sumner 1868]

Looking back, I think the "hate" was mostly for show to move the spectrum as right as possible. Certainly Clinton worked much better with Newt Gingrich than he did with Tom Foley.

[dead0man]

If you are over 15 yo and don't get it, you're either trying not to get it or you're dumb.

[MarkD]

One of the biggest political controversies of 1993 was gays in the military, and Bill Clinton did not handle that issue very well. First, he campaigned in 1993 as if he was going to be a political moderate, but when news broke that Clinton had made a campaign promise during the 1992 campaign, to gay activists that he will lift the ban on gays in the military. That made him look as if he were going to be much more liberal than his moderate image. The promise he made to lift the ban was not popular with the military itself, nor with Republicans or conservative Democrats. When it became obvious the military was not going to accept openly gay service people, and that Congress had conservative majorities who were supporting the military, Clinton reneged on his promise and accepted the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy instead. Reneging on his campaign promise made him seem wishy-washy. The whole scenario was a large part of what made him unpopular to the Republicans.

[darklordoftech]

Might Clinton vetoeing the partial-birth abortion ban also be a factor?