....She is not some right wing wacko....
But she is perceived as one by a majority of the electorate and perceived as not a very bright one at that. Perception is everything in politics.
I remember when Reagan was ridiculed - the “Bed Time for Bonzo” - nice looking king of the B movies guy who hung out with a monkey when he wasn’t being a cowboy. They thought he was an intellectual dummy (they didn’t know he taught himself to read at age 5) and no one would ever take him seriously. He was elected governor anyway. He started to be known for his down to earth one liners (zingers) that really got his message across. I’ll stop there. Is this ringing any bells?