Gallup Poll Majority Supports Hillary Clinton for President

A new Gallup poll shows 53% are either “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to vote for Hillary Clinton for president in 2008, numbers similar to what George W. Bush enjoyed at a similar point before the 2000 election.

Poll majority say they’d be likely to vote for Clinton (USA Today)

For the first time, a majority of Americans say they are likely to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton if she runs for president in 2008, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday. The survey shows that the New York senator and former first lady has broadened her support nationwide over the past two years, though she still provokes powerful feelings from those who oppose her.

Clinton commands as much strong support – but more strong opposition – as George W. Bush did in a Newsweek poll in November 1998, two years before the 2000 election. She is in slightly stronger position than then-vice president Al Gore, the eventual 2000 Democratic nominee, was in 1998.

“Over time, Clinton fatigue has dissipated … and people are looking back on the Clinton years more favorably,” says Andrew Kohut, director of the non-partisan Pew Research Center. In a Pew poll released this month, Kohut called former president Bill Clinton and the senator “comeback kids” because of their rising ratings. “This may also reflect that she has been recasting her image as a more moderate person,” he says.

[…]

In the poll, 29% were “very likely” to vote for Clinton for president if she runs in 2008; 24% were “somewhat likely.” Seven percent were “not very likely” and 39% were “not at all likely” to vote for her. Her strong support has risen by 8 percentage points, and her strong opposition has dropped by 5 points since the same question was asked in June 2003.

A fascinating result, although I hasten to point out the usual caveats: the election isn’t being held today and the campaign hasn’t started yet. The GOP–and, indeed, her Democratic primary opponents–will spend millions reminding the public of the dark side of the Clinton years and of some of the more outrageous things she’s said over the years.

Still, one would prefer to be in Hillary Clinton’s position than that of any other potential Democratic nominee.

Uncharacteristically, USAT does not link to the detailed poll results, nor does CNN’s version of the story or the Gallup home page.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. DaveD says:

    Yes, I too long for that idyllic period of time between the fall of the Soviet Union and the arrival of terrorism in our own country. The Clinton era, when you could effortlessly increase your net worth in the stock market on a plethora of tech companies having no clue when they were finally going to turn a profit. It was the time of small ideas and actions when we could afford the luxury of that minstrel show otherwise known as the Clinton Administration. In all serious, though, these Hillary polls seem so useless until someone in the Democratic Party decides to mount a serious challenge, then we can see whether she maintains her statesman-like demeanor. At this point Hillary doesn’t have to lift a finger to get these numbers.

  2. FMF says:

    Get ready for “socialized health care, round 2” if she’s elected.

  3. Brian J. says:

    And if she’s not elected, here’s the first nugget for conspiracy theories explaining why the election was fixed.

    But she was ahead in May 2005!

  4. Just Me says:

    I don’t care what polls show now, she has way too much baggage that her primary opponents and the GOP opponent will beat her over the head with.

    Also, unless a popular strong conservative GOPer joins the race and comes to the forefront, the names in the ring right now indicate some type of moderate is going to get the nod, which will make it very difficult for her to compete with. She can only run from her liberal positions so far.

  5. Barry says:

    “…will spend millions reminding the public of the dark side of the Clinton years…”

    I’d laugh hysterically, except that DaveD has demonstrated that there is a market for such BS and lies. I love the phrase ‘minstrel show’ – it certainly can’t be applied to the Bush administration. ‘Insane Clown Posse’, on the other hand….

  6. Toolmaker says:

    The CLinton years were truly a dark and mournful period in this Nations History; Record Employment, government managed so well we had record surpluses, social and environmental programs that made sense, foriegn policy that earned respect, a President that traveled abroad spreading democracy by example…it was a miracle the Country made it through that decade.

    I truly prefer the glory of this Administration; creating false and fraudulent evidence to invade a foriegn land, budgetary ineptitude on a spectacular scale, Foriegn Policy created by Religious Fanatics, Spreading democracy at the point of a gun, environmental and social policy in violation of the basic foundations of humanity…..maybe we could elect another Bush…8 years is simply not enough time to destroy this great Nation.

  7. There’s no way she wins. That poll is absolute garbage. I can feel it. I would love to make several hundred bets on this with people who buy this poll… the bets would cash in, cha-ching-style, in a few years.

  8. Hal says:

    I think just seeing the right turn into everything they’ve been trashing about the left would be worth the price of admission alone. It’ll be truly fantastic to see them work to undercut her in every way, work to filibuster her judicial nominees and appointments. Not supporting here in the war. It’ll be a hoot to see the military types instantly flip and believe it’s now their patriotic duty to dishonor the commander in chief because she is a Clinton (and you know what that means).

    And I simply can’t wait for socialized medicine. I’m pretty sure that half the right will have aneurysms and strokes from the veins popping right off the bat.

    It’ll be a hoot.

  9. McGehee says:

    When I saw the phrase “right turn” in that comment just above, I thought the complaint was about how Hillary has been making a “right turn” on every issue put before her for the past year.

    And we all thought New York was a blue state. WTF?

  10. Terrell Tenhet says:

    YES! Bring her on! We need someone of her caliber BACK in the White House. Maybe, just maybe, she will be able to restore this country to what not only the world LIKES about us but what WE ourselves USED to be proud of. I just dare the righto-whackos to try and knock her down. They would finally get what they deserve-KNOCKED out of the beltway and hopefully so far they won’t even be able to crawl back in. I, too, look forward to their veins popping. We’ll see who laughs at health care then. WORLD PEACE COULD BE ON THE WAY AGAIN!!! Please, Mrs. Clinton, run, run, run right back to the Oval Office!