Gallup Shows Major Drop In Clinton’s Favorability

Gallup Clinton's favorability

Gallup has results similar to those reported Wednesday from the Washington Post/ABC News poll. Clinton ‘s unfavorability ratings in the Gallup poll have also dropped tremendously, now at 41 percent, with higher favorability among Democrats at 71 percent. Her favorability was lower in 1992, but this is attributed to not being well known at the time. Gallup reports:

Dogged by continued scrutiny of her email practices as secretary of state, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s favorability with the American public has sunk to one of its lowest levels in Gallup’s 23-year trend. Currently, 41% of U.S. adults say they have a favorable opinion of the Democratic front-runner, while 51% hold an unfavorable view.

Clinton’s deflated favorable rating reflects the challenging political environment she has faced recently. Her use of a private server and email account as secretary of state remains an ongoing controversy and has prompted congressional and FBI investigations.

Clinton’s sub-40% favorable ratings in 1992 were mostly a product of the public’s lack of familiarity with her, rather than any kind of broad unpopularity. By contrast, her current 41% favorable rating is arguably her worst, given her nearly universal name recognition. Her present rating is about as low as it was in March 2001, during her first few months in office as a U.S. senator from New York. Perhaps more importantly, it was also after controversial pardons that her husband, President Bill Clinton, granted at the end of his presidency, and after the Clintons took furnishings and other gifts that were White House property when they left…

As Clinton continues to field inquiries from the media and government into her email use as secretary of state, her favorable rating among national adults has fallen to near-record lows. But she remains generally liked among Democrats themselves, so it is still an open question as to whether media reports of her email situation will have an effect on her ability to obtain the Democratic presidential nomination.

Nonetheless, if Clinton’s national image problem persists, this may cause concern for Democratic voters looking to back a nominee who can win the general election. At the moment, Sanders appears to be alone among Clinton’s current cadre of opposing contestants in showing signs of an increased positive position in Democrats’ minds, and he remains unknown to almost half of Democrats nationwide. This development may seem inviting for other potential candidates, such as Vice President Joe Biden.

As I wrote previously, I remain concerned about the danger of that Clinton might win the Democratic nomination due to her high level of support among Democrats, but then be a weak general election candidate.

Democrats might think they can still win due to opposition to the Republican, and very well might pull this off. Long term it is not a winning strategy to go into elections with the attitude that, “you must vote for us because the Republicans are so evil.” Democrats need to stand for something more than not being as bad as the Republicans. This is why Sanders is attracting such excitement around his campaign as Clinton’s support keeps falling.

Leave a comment