Hillary Clinton is kicking ass in the latest Washington Post poll. In every conceivable way... Even her husband is polling out of control (two thirds of Americans are bullish on his presidency, including a third of Republicans.) Witness: Former President Bill Clinton has emerged as a clear asset in his wife's campaign for the White House, with Americans offering high ratings to his eight years in office and a solid majority saying they would be comfortable with him as first spouse, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
But Americans said they would not regard the election of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as simply the resumption of her husband's presidency. Instead, two-thirds said she would take her presidency in a different direction and half of all Americans said they believed that would be a good development. And about half of those who said it would be a resumption described that as positive. Now tot he meat of the matter. Hillary is beating Rudy Giuliani, the likely Republican nominee, 51 to 43 in this poll, taking 88 percent of Dems, 48 percent of Independents (Rudy gets 44) and even 10 percent of Republicans (more than Bushie got of Dems in 2000). But is she polarizing (I argue who cares, but let's pretend that it matters): Many Republicans have said they are eager to run a general election campaign against Hillary Clinton, describing her as a highly polarizing candidate who would unite and energize the opposition. But as of now Clinton appears to to be no more polarizing than other leading Democratic candidates. Nor is there a potential Republican nominee who appears significantly less polarizing.
Forty-one percent of those surveyed said they definitely would not vote for Clinton in the general election if she were the Democratic nominee, one of the lowest "reject rates" of any of the leading candidates in either of the two major parties. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama registers the lowest definite opposition, at 39 percent.
...in the South, Edwards's home turf, the three leading Democrats all have been ruled out by nearly identical percentages; Edwards by 47 percent, Clinton by 46 percent and Obama by 45 percent.
Americans currently view the top four Republican candidates in equally or even more negative terms. Forty-four percent said they definitely would not vote for former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, while 45 percent said the same of Arizona Sen. John McCain. More than half of all Americans said they definitely would not vote for former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson (54 percent) or former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (57 percent).
On the other side of the ledger, more Americans, three in 10, said they definitely would support Clinton than any other of the leading candidates of either party. In contrast, just 17 percent said they definitely would support Giuliani.
So who's polarizing, again? Chris Matthews, present yourself! Two more items from the poll: First, the word from those who are paying attention... ...among those following the election very closely at this point, Clinton enjoys a sizeable lead -- 58 percent to 40 percent. And next, Hillary's real mojo factor: women... A Clinton-Giuliani race could produce a big gender gap. Men now split about evenly between the two, but the New York senator's potentially groundbreaking candidacy draws heavily among women, 57 percent to 39 percent. Note again, that Hil is not losing men -- she's polling equally with Rudy there. So tell me again how Hillary can't get elected? Details of the ABC/WaPo poll here. Labels: 2008, elections, Hillary Clinton, presidential candidates, Rudy |
