Sunday, December 14, 2008

Hillary Clinton's Favorability Numbers

NBC/WSJ, December 5-8
Very Positive:27 Somewhat Positive:26 Neutral:20 Somewhat Negative:14 Very Negative:12

CNN, December 1-3
Favorable:66 Unfavorable:33

The NBC/WSJ poll goes back to 1997, and these are her lowest "Very Negative" numbers in the poll since three days after Bill Clinton admitted his affair in 1998. The CNN poll goes back to 2006, and these are by far her best numbers ever.

We don't have any post-election, pre-SoS readings for her, so it's a bit hard to tell whether post-election love for Democrats is playing a bigger role, or whether it's the attachment to a popular president. Both are probably factors.

3 comments:

corvus said...

it's a bit hard to tell whether post-election love for Democrats is playing a bigger role, or whether it's the attachment to a popular president

I told you...

Neil Sinhababu said...

You did, Corvus.

Now, I don't know whether she gets to keep these gains if she goes back to the campaign trail. But yeah, looking pretty good.

Anonymous said...

it's a bit hard to tell whether post-election love for Democrats is playing a bigger role, or whether it's the attachment to a popular president

I don't think it's either of those, primarily.

I think Clinton's elevated positives among conservatives arise from the incredible re-making of her political self that she achieved during the primaries. This is a world where conservatives are reassured to see Hillary freakin' Rodham Clinton join Obama's closest circle of advisers. She is viewed just completely differently on the center and right after the primaries. I think it's probably permanent, because while Clinton has not changed substantively on hardly any issues, the hatred of her was never substantive, it was based on resentment and crazy, and she's really been displaced as an object of resentment.

And she's viewed differently on the left, but there I think that her association with Obama and the fact that she actually agrees with the rest of Democratic party on basically everything will keep those numbers is good shape.

She's the nominee in 2016 if we have a good eight years.