Hillary’s Likeability Deficit
Just to divert your attention (for only a moment) from the McCain furor, we decided to take a look at favorability ratings of the current presidential candidates to see how they compared historically. Fortunately we have fresh data from a poll released today by Fox News/Opinion Dynamics.
The results give us some insight into Hillary’s likeability deficit and how it is impeding her hopes for securing the nomination.
The poll shows Obama with a 54% favorability rating (33% have an unfavorable impression of him). McCain (pre-NYT story) has a similar ratio with a favorable/unfavorable rating of 52%/33%. Both have a net positive favorability rating of approximately +20.
Clinton, on the other hand, has a net negative favorability rating (-6). Only 45% of the electorate has a favorable impression of Clinton, while 51% are unfavorable toward her. While she does well among Democrats, it is among self-described Independents where she is losing ground. Obama’s favorability rating among Independents is 54%…Clinton’s is just 38%.
Four years ago Bush had a 52% favorable rating (a net positive of +12) in early March and Kerry had a net positive rating of +19.
It is awfully difficult to become your party’s nominee when more than half of Independents have an unfavorable impression of you. People vote for people. And many voters have decided that they do not like Hillary Clinton.
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