New Poll Shows Hillary Clinton’s Favorability At Record Low

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to child care workers during a visit to the Center For New Horizons Wednesday, May 20, 2015, in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s unfavorables are higher than her favorables, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released Tuesday.

The poll found that 46 percent of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of the Democratic presidential candidate while 50 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of her. By contrast, in March, the last time CNN/ORC polled Clinton’s favorability, 53 percent said they had a favorable opinion of her while 44 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of her.

The methodology in the last two polls weighs more toward Independents. In the most recent poll, 27 percent described themselves as Democrats, 21 percent said they were Republicans, and 52 percent said they were Independents. In the March poll, 28 percent said they were Democrats, 24 percent said they were Republicans, and 48 percent said they were Independents.

The latest favorability finding is the lowest for Clinton in the poll’s history since 2006. The 50 percent unfavorable number is also the highest it’s been in that span of time.

A recent Quinnipiac poll also found Clinton’s unfavorable number higher than her favorables. That poll, conducted in May, found that 45 percent of those surveyed said they had a favorable opinion of her while 47 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of her.

The latest CNN/ORC poll’s findings are welcome news for Republicans who have been hammering the former secretary of State on dealings at the Clinton foundation and Benghazi.

Still, Clinton remains the far and away favorite to win the Democratic primary and polls ahead of each Republican 2016 candidate in head-to-head matchups. In the latest CNN/ORC poll, the closest matchups are between Clinton and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) or Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL). With Paul, Clinton beats the Kentucky senator 48 percent to 47 percent and with Rubio, Clinton beats him 48 percent to 46 percent.

The latest poll was conducted among 1,025 adults over telephone between May 29 and May 31. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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Notable Replies

  1. what a shock! how could this be?

    well, every gop presidential candidate says, 'hi, i’m running for president. let’s talk about how much hillary sucks." quite the consistent messaging. do they want to talk about fixing real problems that the US faces? NO! imo, this attack mentality will eventually be seen for what it is. they hide their own shortcomings by carpet-bombing her. the american electorate needs to wise-up. look for solutions not condemnations.

  2. Not all of this is the media’s fault or even the GOP’s doing. A big part of her problem can be seen in her campaign emails, which consists almost exclusively of chances to meet Hillary or “new swag!” in the campaign online store. She isn’t saying anything about the issues of the day, and even though I generally support her, I find this boring and maybe even a little bit insulting. I don’t think she’ll have luck recreating the buzz that Obama got. Mainly because Obama generated that buzz by taking difficult stands on the issues of the day. The Iraq War, the Patriot Act, the financial meltdown, etc. If Hillary wants a bump in those numbers she has to come out and stand for things.

  3. The right-wing Media Assault is WORKING!
    That and the whiny MSM (specifically the D.C. MSM) that is angry she won’t do their job for them and CONFORM TO OUR PRE-CONCEIVED NOTIONS OF HILLARY so they can be lazy and still get paid.
    Now, I’m no Hillary supporter, but this is just stupid this far out from the election.

  4. And yet, she is still popular with us democrats. Also, she is still beating every republican candidate even though she has taken a pounding from the media. The republicans must be singing the blues, because Hillary takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

  5. Right you are. But it seems as though since about 2002 Hillary wants to be president because she wants to be president. If she wants to be president to accomplish something, beyond maybe “justice” and “peace” and such stuff, she hasn’t gotten the word out.

    Of course, there are many such candidates, but she seems to be a particularly pure example. A candidate who’s not hung up on issues and policies.

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