All this, and I think Clinton was too much of a culture warrior, albeit one from the left. That's why so many people have disliked her from the time she first popped on to the national stage in 1992. She always made women's issues a centerpiece of her life's work, first as a lawyer, then as a First Lady advocate, then as a senator and later, Secretary of State. Along the way, she's always been very fiercely outspoken about them and, to paraphrase FDR, gleefully welcomed the hatred of those who disagreed with her on those issues. That made conservatives despise her and even moderates see her as off-putting and dislikeable.
The culture war is a loser for both sides. If a politician on the right makes banning abortion and gay marriage a priority and favors tax credits for families where mom stays home, he or she is likely a loser. Same for a politician on the left who keeps harping about women's and gay rights and making it a centerpiece of his/her campaign. Am I saying the left should abandon its position on culture issues? No, though I would like it to become a little less militant on abortion and more sympathetic to sensitivity of the issue and much less hostile toward religion. Culture issues helped sink Kerry in 2004 just as it made Palin toxic in 2008 and sank Republican senate candidates in 2010 and 2012 (O'Donnell in Delaware, Angell in Nevada, the "legitimate rape" guy in Missouri in 2012, the guy in Indiana in 2012). People care about the culture issues but not nearly as much as economic issues because, in the grand scheme of things, culture issues don't make much of a difference in most people's lives.
And yes, there were personality shortcomings, her poor performance on the stump, her highly educated bearing, her inability to connect with people. And the left never completely embraced her because, behind the curtain of her advocacy for women's issues, she was really a big-time corporate lawyer who always seemed to feel more comfortable with wealthy people (and shared their expensive tastes and lifestyle) than with working class people.
Fair or not, the enduring narrative of Hillary was probably cooked in '92-'94 between her husband's campaign, the secretive way she formulated Bill's healthcare reform plan and questions regarding her role in Whitewater. This enduring narrative was of her being an aloof, snobby and arrogant militant feminist who had little use for transparency, who embraced the "pay to play" culture and, regardless of whether she actually broke the law, played loose with the rules to her advantage.
It all goes back to parties going with the second place finisher for the nomination the last time it was open and why none of them have ever succeeded in winning the White House since Reagan and Bush I did. Dole, McCain, Romney and now H.Clinton have all failed since then. There's usually a reason that candidate didn't win the nomination the first time.