but how evidence based are they really?

Have you checked the commonly discussed topics in the sidebar? There's lots of good reading material there. Most of the policies that this sub advocates for are backed up by the consensus of economists.

Yes, most of us like Hillary Clinton since she is an archetypal neoliberal who sought expert advice when creating policies, unlike Trump or Bernie who were populists. I think a big reason why she was considered unlikeable was because she looked at things very pragmatically, almost to a pathological extent. For example, universal single payer healthcare is great, but at the moment it doesn't seem like it could be realistically implemented in a country as large as the US (this is coming from a Canadian).

As for her shady past, I actually don't care that much. What I mainly care about is if a politician can implement good policies that make our lives better. If they can do that, so what if they made bad mistakes in the past?

Just my two cents.