In a mid-April Gallup/USA Today poll, Clinton was rated favorable by 45% of American respondents and unfavorable by 52%. Clinton's two main rivals, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, fared better, with 52% favorable ratings--and with 27% unfavorable for Obama and 31% for Edwards. Clinton's standing improved in May, when the same polling organization found her favorability rose to 53% and unfavorable dropped to 45%. But her June numbers reversed, as 46% declared their approval and 50% found her unfavorable.On the plus side for Mrs. Clinton, she turns out to be a very good performer at debates, and better than most would have guessed out on the campaign trail. She has shown flashes of a good sense of humor, and an ease with off-the-cuff banter. On the negative side, she continues to speak in infuriatingly vague terms about subjects like health care. As far as many independents are concerned, she carries a whole lot of heavy baggage from her husband's administration. Indeed, her political identity seems inextricable from the polarization of red from blue (comparing the Republican-run Congress to a plantation comes to mind).
Moreover, I just don't see Hillary as the person to heal this badly divided country. Though it may not be fair to blame her for the constant partisan attacks that would dog her should she attain the highest office in the land, I can honestly say that I do not look forward to them, either. Call me un-wooed.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. There is too much attention put into the opinion polls right now. It shouldn't be difficult for her to swing her unfavorable rating back down again.
Guy in a Suit at 12:22PM on Jul 3rd 2007
2. The campaign team of Hillary may have made a big mistake by bringing President Clinton and Sen Hillary to Iowa to campaign. I do not have anything against Hillary or Clinton but everything that happened in their first campaign together was very artificial and phony. They were trying to be like Nancy and Reagan, holding hands like Nancy and Reagan, even trying to walk like Nancy and Reagan. The major problem was that it just did not fit. It simply looked artificial and phony.
The worst mistake is to have Hillary speak after Clinton. President Clinton is simply a natural. Clinton can tell lies but you can hardly believe he is telling lies. For example, he made up a story that Hillary turned down lucrative job to come and work for the poor after she graduated from Law School. President Clinton forgot that the Rose Law Firm, which formerly employed Hillary Rodham Clinton, was the focus of investigations related to the Clinton family's business dealings, including the Whitewater development. However, coming out of the mouth of Bill Clinton it sounded believable. It is very difficult to dislike Bill Clinton just as it was difficult to dislike Ronald Reagan both men are by nature, natural. But there is something about Hillary that is not right. Many people do not know but they simply know that something is not just right. I think this may explain the reason why everything about her appears very artificial.
May be part of the reason is the artificial transformation that Hillary has under gone. Everything about Hillary has gone through changes including name. From Mrs. Clinton to Hillary Clinton, to Hillary Rodham to Hillary Rodham-Clinton to Senator Clinton to Senator Hillary Clinton to Senator Hillary and now just HILLARY. This may explain why she has such high unfavorable rating among American people. America like originality and can easily overlook ones short coming like Reagan
Amos Ajo at 2:06PM on Jul 3rd 2007
3. Wow, another Clinton, another impeachment
Skip at 1:10PM on Jul 3rd 2007
4. I was thinking about this the other day and what another Clinton President would be like, and how she will operate in her husband's shadow.
Objectively, Hillary sounds canned. She aooears to read a script well, but if she strayed off script she does not have the talents of her husband.
I support the idea of a woman for President, but I think a Mrs. Clinton administration would eventually appear that she is a puppet of her husband. Not fair comparison for her, but nevertheless something that I think would be asserted. The first woman president needs to get there on her own and stand on a dais by herself. Society will hold the first woman president to a higher standard just because she is a woman. Bill standing behind her is a negative for me. No matter how much I may disagree with President Bush, I still remember how glad I was that Clinton was gone at the end of his term.
There is also a fatigue factor for me. Since 1988, this contry has been run by two political families: Bush and Clinton. If Mrs. Clinton wins, we will have had a minimum of 25 years of the same families running this country.
I want something new, and Mrs. Clinton just harks back to what we have has between the two families. Can't we do better than these two old warhorse families? I sure hope so, and I will have a hard time endorsing the same direction by voting for Mrs. Clinton, the same as I would if Jeb Bush were running. I am just tired of the same old stuff.
John L at 2:27PM on Jul 3rd 2007
5. I just adore her for her intelligence, her knowledge of the issues, and her insight into the executive and legislative processes. It makes me happy to think of having a president as competent and as capable as she again.
Bran at 9:50PM on Jul 3rd 2007
6. hillary just wants a job having sat out her life while bill was going into his second term. she's using the clinton name to bolster herself. the whole image of a woman president finally, will look gleaming in the pages of history.
mr lee at 10:59PM on Jul 3rd 2007
7. Tell me people what exacty do u hate about hillary. i ask this because when i ask people the general response is "um, i dunno, i just don't like her"
Thats a problem, too many people don't like her just because her name happens to be hillary clinton.
She has the experience, the ideas, the plans, she has everything that a president needs and yet all this hate. it really is so childish and immature to hate someone because you didn't like thier husband. Thats like me saying because i though George H.W. Bush was a bad president, that George W. Bush would be a bad president, i can admit i was wrong, he is a horrible president, a million times worse then his dad.
Patrick at 11:41PM on Jul 3rd 2007
8. Al Gore should run in 08 and he could repeat the history made by Richard Nixon in 68 when some felt JFK had stolen the 1960 election. Al Gore is also much more experienced and qualified than Hillary. No candidates have ever won the presidency with disapproval rating consistently over 50%, Hillary is no exception.
Stuart at 12:41AM on Jul 4th 2007
9. People keep saying Hillary has experience. She was first lady, not president. And her health care idea then was totally undoable. She presented it as costing one fourth of what it would actually cost. She is poll driven, and changes her plans based on the polls. But I don't think she can get elected. Too much baggage.
stephanie moss at 7:04AM on Jul 4th 2007
10. America is polarized between the "religious right" and the "intellectual left". What the COUNTRY needs is "fresh air" - a new voice that speaks for all the people and for the nation - rather than for one side of the aisle. That is why I will not vote for Hillary Clinton - under any circumstances. And that is why Obama has caught on. His support is much wider than "Democrats", and he is attracting a cross section of American voters - in particular those in the "moderate" zone, such as myself (an educated white anglo-saxon male, age 63.
Ben Godfrey at 7:28AM on Jul 4th 2007
11. Polls aside, the national psychology can be simply summed up like this; liberals will vote for any of the Democrats in preference to any of the Republicans, conservatives will vote for any of the Republicans in preference to any of the Democrats. The average independent will vote for ANY of the Democrats, EXCEPT HILLARY, in preference to ANY of the Republicans.
While I personally find Hillary uninteresting but qualified, her relative qualifications vis-a-vis her primary opponents are irrelevant. The nation simply cannot afford to take the chance of another Republican being elected President!
Considering the damage that the GW Bush administration has done to the country, and the long-term damage that will be done by his Supreme Court appointees working in tandem with those notorious Constitution burners Scalia & Thomas, we can clearly NOT afford another Republican President for a very long time. The next President will almost certainly be appointing a replacement for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens who is currently 87 years old. When that happens, if we get another Bush-type appointee, individual rights in the United States will cease to exist. You need only look at Scalia and Thomas' voting records to see how strongly they favor government and industry's prerogatives over those of any individual.
David at 8:35PM on Jul 5th 2007
12. I am a lifelong Liberal Democrat and I just cannot bring myself to consider HIILARY !, she simply is not qualified for the highest office in the land. I think a lot of people are voting for her because they believe bogus poll results and want to be on the winning team, they are a woman and want to vote for one, or more likely, they just liked Bill Clinton. I cant vote for Hillary Rodham based on her laurels and cant vote for her because she is married to a President I liked, sorry Hillary, thats not enough.
Perry Ignacio at 2:00AM on Jul 9th 2007
13. Patrick, Let me help you with this one Bud, SHE IS A LIAR. Pay attention, this voting thing is serious stuff.
Tony Linder at 2:03AM on Jul 9th 2007
14. And these comments are so typical of Hillary-haters. I get that they hate her but just what exactly it is that they hate so much? Because they think she's fake? Ambitious? Too political? Let me spell it out for me, guys, being a politician REQUIRES you to be all those things. 20 year plan? That's nothing- how about fifty years?
Every single person running for president has got to be ambitious- or else they won't have even the slightest chance of winning. And every politician lies, they all snatch the opportunities they're given. Barack Obama may pretend that he's different, but he will never win that way, and besides, that's all a lie, too. Just an image, and I have actual proof (Haven't you heard of his mob connections?). That's politics, people, that's what it requires and sticking the Clintons under a microscope and putting them under unfair double standards is wrong, no matter what your reason.
If you hate Hillary Rodham Clinton, I suggest that you actually read up a bit about her. History, experience, political affliations, etc, and from an unbiased point of view for once (though that's pretty hard to find). And if you still hate her, now there'll will be a real reason. Like disagreement with her on some issue. That's fine, great, in fact. In my opinion, you can hate her all you want, but not just because her name is Hillary Clinton, or from some percieved vision of her. That is just plain unfair, for any candidate, and I for one am tired of seeing every mistake be magnified for her. It's time for the American people to get over their petty perceptions and get some facts.
Lily at 6:38PM on Jul 16th 2007