PDA

View Full Version : Why is Hillary Clinton's popularity sliding?




RPfan1992
11-01-2013, 12:54 PM
Hillary Clinton left the State Department with a sky-high approval rating. With her broad appeal and presumed White House ambitions, the conventional wisdom, supported by early polls, suggested she would roll to the Democratic nomination in 2016 and then trounce whomever Republicans trotted out to face her.

Yet less than a year removed from her old job, Clinton's popularity has fallen from its once-lofty heights, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll out this week.

SEE ALSO: Which professions have the most psychopaths?

In the poll, 46 percent of adults expressed a favorable opinion of Clinton, while 33 percent viewed her unfavorably. That's not too shabby — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) came in with a 17/43 favorable to unfavorable split — but it's well down from January, when 56 percent liked Clinton versus 25 percent who did not.

All told, that means Clinton's net favorability had fallen an astounding 18 points since the start of the year.

SEE ALSO: He said he was leaving. She ignored him.

The drop is seemingly quite mysterious, given that Clinton has been largely absent from the spotlight for months. It's not like she oversaw a disastrous rollout of an online exchange for health insurance, for example. So why is Clinton bottoming out now?

For one, it's possible her apparent move to campaign mode has polarized people who previously viewed her as more of an apolitical figure during her time as the nation's top diplomat. "It's not that voters all of the sudden have seen a new side of Hillary that has caused them to take a second look," pollster Peter Hart told the Wall Street Journal, but rather that "she is no longer the non-partisan secretary of state and that brings out the partisan fangs on the part of former supporters."

SEE ALSO: Could Forrest Gump have possibly survived his epic run?

Clinton also, since leaving the White House, has been tied to the lingering controversy over Benghazi. Though the scandal has mostly fizzled out in the mainstream press, Republicans and members of the conservative media devoted considerable time earlier in the year to hammering the administration — and Clinton in particular — for its handling of last year's deadly consulate attack.

Clinton's polling slide did begin around the time a supposed bombshell report, later debunked, claimed internal White House emails revealed a cover-up. And Gallup, which has also found Clinton's popularity on the decline, said back in June that congressional hearings into Benghazi had "called into question her leadership during her tenure at the State Department."

SEE ALSO: A stay-at-home wife dishes: Why I choose not to work

It's also possible Clinton is being dragged down by her former boss. Battered by the government shutdown and ObamaCare's terrible rollout, the president's approval rating has fallen to a record-low 42 percent, according to the same NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

Yes, Clinton no longer works for the administration, or in the government at all, for that matter. But Americans have soured over the past month on just about everyone associated with Washington. Republicans bore the brunt of the blowback, but a majority of voters have said they would be fine voting out everyone in Congress.

SEE ALSO: Watch The Daily Show ridicule lawmakers for their disingenuous anger over NSA spying

That kind of anti-incumbent, "throw the bums out" mentality could spill over to other Washington figures. And Clinton, with her long tenure in D.C. — former first lady turned senator turned diplomat — is a veritable Washington institution unto herself.

A number of other smaller factors could also be at play.

SEE ALSO: 7 grammar rules you really should pay attention to

Clinton endorsed and campaigned for the not-so-popular Democratic gubernatorial candidate (and former Clinton fundraiser) Terry McAuliffe; she went on a public policy speaking tour, in which she began laying the framework for a possible campaign; and her name surfaced in unflattering stories about failed New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, who is married to top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

Whatever the reason, Clinton's popularity was bound to slip somewhat as she geared up for 2016. And she's still, even with such a precipitous drop, very well-liked. The latest polls give the GOP few reasons to feel better about the next election.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best TV shows from the first half of 2013

View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

More from The Week:

http://news.yahoo.com/why-hillary-clintons-popularity-sliding-060600878.html

Original_Intent
11-01-2013, 01:17 PM
Lol. The article needs to be serious. Her popularity slipped because her aide is married to Anthony Weiner? Puh-leeze.

I also like that the article asks "Why are her numbers bottoming out now?" presupposing that they will go no lower. Beautiful piece of propaganda there.

I would say her numbers always sucked, but they were massaged, and it is clear that true sentiment is going nowhere so they had to bring the numbers closer to reality.

People haven't forgotten Benghazi yet, that will be ancient history by 2016.

Elias Graves
11-01-2013, 01:22 PM
Hopefully the opposition will remind Americans that she was the original obamacare girl.

puppetmaster
11-01-2013, 01:23 PM
Outta sight out ta mind. She will let her party burn then come in to save it.

donnay
11-01-2013, 01:26 PM
Benghazi way too fresh in the memories of people--give it a while, they will definitely forget when she runs for President again.

NorthCarolinaLiberty
11-01-2013, 01:28 PM
Biden gets the nomination in 2016, unless he has a stroke. No IFs, ANDs, or BUTs. Clinton is merely entertainment for the cable TV masses. She, and cable TV, are making a lot of money off suckers.

My prediction is that a Repub. statist wins 2016. Clinton's one shot is 2020.

fisharmor
11-01-2013, 01:30 PM
SEE ALSO: Which professions have the most psychopaths?

LOL!