America Still Loves the Unbreakable Hillary Clinton
LatestAccording to a new Gallup poll, Hillary Clinton is owning the other potential 2016 Presidential contenders when it comes to favorability. Fortunately for Clinton, not enough people care enough about the fact that she also owned the server she used to send personal and professional emails back when she was Secretary of State for it to really matter.
The poll, which was conducted from March 2-4 (after her email scandal broke but before she had publicly addressed it) found that 89% of people surveyed knew who Hillary Clinton was, and that among those people, she had a 50-39 favorability-unfavorability rating. Nobody in the 2016 GOP clown car—Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, et al—had even close to her numbers on both recognition and favorability. Here’s more from Gallup:
The graph plots 16 potential candidates —11 Republicans and five Democrats — on a two-dimensional chart displaying their familiarity and favorability ratings. The candidates who appear in the upper-right quadrant are in the most advantageous position at this point as they are both relatively well-known and have higher favorable than unfavorable ratings. In addition to Clinton, Republicans Jeb Bush, Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul reside in this space. However, Americans rate each of those Republicans only slightly more positively than negatively, with net favorable scores of +2 or +3, compared with Clinton’s +11. And Huckabee and Paul have just slightly above average familiarity. Generally speaking, the further candidates are away from the intersecting lines, the better their image.
Another important takeaway from the poll: fucking nobody likes Rick Santorum.
The Washington Post’s Philip Bump notes, however, that these numbers don’t mean Clinton is bulletproof, as they’re only the latest in a years-long downward trend in her favorability, and a lot can change between now and November 2016. Still, does it matter if people like her less than they did in 2009 if they like her much more than any of the alternatives? And if a lot can change between now and November 2016, should a downward trend be all that worrisome?
What will it take for Hillary Clinton’s comparatively sterling reputation among the American people to be tarnished? A string of ethnic slurs said on live television during the season premiere of How to Get Away with Murder? A Twitter fight with Amber Rose? Will Hillary Clinton literally have to kick a baby to render herself unelectable?
Clintons are strong as hell.
Image via Getty.