Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 11:21 am
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll found that while Hillary Clinton’s favorability ratings have dropped, she is still more popular than her potential Republican opponents.
According to the poll, Clinton’s approval/disapproval ratio is an upside down (-8) Forty-five percent view Clinton favorably while 53% have an unfavorable view of the Democratic frontrunner. However, the Republican Party would likely kill to have her numbers. Jeb Bush has a (-17) net favorability rating, with a 38% favorability rating and a 55% unfavorable rating. Donald Trump has a (-22) net favorability rating. Trump’s was viewed favorably by 37%, and unfavorably by 59%.
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Vice President Joe Biden was also included in the poll even though he is not a candidate, and his net favorability rating was a net (0) with a split of 46%/46%.
The consistently negative coverage of the Clinton email scandal is the key driver behind her decline in approval ratings, but, no matter what Donald Trump believes, elections aren’t contested in the media.
Unlike Bush and Trump, Clinton isn’t saddled with a political party that is historically unpopular. Her negatives are being driven by a media narrative about her emails. The Clinton campaign is running an intentionally low-key early effort. Hillary Clinton is in the race for the long haul, so she isn’t holding large rallies and doing national interviews.
Former Sec. of State Clinton has universal name recognition, so there is an intentional strategy on her part not to oversaturate the coverage. The Clinton campaign is going with a slow burn strategy, because they want voters to get excited in 2016.
Other candidates weren’t included in the initial batch of data, but no one else in either party has the national name recognition of Clinton, Biden, Trump, and Bush.
The takeaway is that even with the email scandal, Hillary Clinton beats her most well-known Republican opponents. Democrats are more popular than Republicans in the United States, which is why the Democratic nominee will have the advantage going into the fall of 2016.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
