…but her supporters could ruin everything for her.

In the first US presidential debate, Hillary Clinton finally turned up to the party. Giving a calm, composed performance she avoided falling into the trap that was set for her and let Trump do the confronting. Voters who might have previously foamed at the mouth seeing the former Secretary of State on their TV screens may now see her as a palatable option for president.

There was no knockout blow but it was a commanding win on points. The political equivalent to a Floyd Mayweather bout.

Yet it could have been so much better for Hillary if it wasn’t for the audience. Despite being specifically told by moderator Lester Holt to remain silent, Clinton supporters decided to give a rousing applause to just about everything she said.

It was as if they thought it was a football match and their passionate support could help their team to victory. But the reality is it didn’t make them look passionate, it made them look stupid, intolerant of others’ views and disrespectful of an integral part of the US electoral process.

If the audience had remained silent, undecided voters could have seen for themselves that Hillary had impressed during the debate. But instead they may either think there was a media conspiracy to flood the hall with Clinton supporters or decide that the type of people who clap at the debates are so irritating that they’ll vote against them just to laugh at their reaction when they wake up on November 9th to President Trump.

This is all part of a wider problem that the liberal left has, not just in America but around the world. The other day I happened to stumble upon a survey that said Remain voters in the EU referendum were six times more likely to object to a family member marrying someone who voted the opposite way than were Leave voters. I can fully believe it.

Some of the most intelligent people I have ever met were unable to avoid repeatedly expressing their disgust on social media at not just the Leave campaign, but anyone who would even consider voting Leave.

At the most extreme, it was possible to see Remainers posting ‘If you voted Leave, get off my friendlist’. How did Leave voters respond? Generally by posting something along the lines of ‘If you voted Remain I will not remove you from my friendlist because I respect your opinion and friendship is more important than politics’.

This is a scene I have seen repeated online at election time in the United States, Brazil and many other countries.

Back in the US, the attitude from large numbers Hillary supporters towards Trump voters, undecided voters and Sanders supporters has been ignorant beyond belief. They really believe that if you can’t see what an outstanding candidate for president she is then you must be a misogynist.

Then there’s the other line they use, which says ‘we cannot pretend Hillary and Trump are two sides of the same coin’. There can’t have been any better Trump advert than this group of celebrities trying to get out the vote for Hillary.

‘But surely conservatives are exactly the same?’ I hear you asking.

My answer is absolutely not. While right-wing voters will say the nastiest imaginable things about Hillary, they generally try to keep it civil with her supporters, and especially with undecided voters.

As well as being less-inclined to see politics as something worth falling out over, there’s also the fact that they really really want to win this thing. Throughout the ages, the biggest difference between conservatives and liberals has always been that conservatives believe the end justifies the means.

If you’re a Hillary supporter, do not underestimate the lengths the so-called ‘deplorables’ will go to to get their man into the white house. Make no mistake that no matter their personal view they will have no qualms about going to their left-wing friends and saying ‘both candidates are terrible’ or talking up the prospects of Green Party candidate Jill Stein to lead as many voters as possible away from Hillary.

So if you’re not going to your right-wing friends and doing the same thing with libertarian Gary Johnson, then you should be. Michael Moore produced this article which provides instructions to Hillary supporters on how to win over undecided voters, in particular Sanders supporters. In short, the sneering has to stop.

Both the EU referendum and the American election remind me of Aesop’s Fable of The North Wind and The Sun. Remain/Clinton campaigners are the harsh wind trying to blow the jacket off the undecided voter and only succeeding in making him hold onto it more tightly. The Trump/Leave campaigns are the sun gently persuading these voters to tick their box.

If liberals can’t learn to be the sun rather than the wind then they will lose again and again and again.