Why Does America (Including Democrats) Hate Hillary Clinton?
Wash Times col Don Lambro digs into a March poll about Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and focuses on the negative. A Zogby poll of likely voters found 46 percent (including 18 percent of Dems) saying they'd never vote for Clinton. Fifty-one percent of men and 42 percent of women gave her the absolute thumbs down too. Her Dem rivals–notably Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) have their problems too, but nothing like the former First Lady's.
So why the negativity?
Two major factors are in play here. One is the battle between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton and the other is the intensity of opposition to Mrs. Clinton among her party's antiwar voters. Recent surveys show Mr. Obama closing fast on Mrs. Clinton in the national polls. He trails her by a scant 31 percent to 34 percent in the ARG poll. But nominations are won in state-by-state contests where delegates can be apportioned under different formulas.
And yet–and this can't be underscored enough–she is the Dem leader, so maybe the nay votes aren't that important.
One other thing: Lambro's col cites poll data showing Rudy Giuliani kicking GOP ass, and Clinton's too (by 6 percentage points). My random thoughts, a 1,000 years out from the election: If it comes down to Rudy vs. Hillary, the smart money is on her. She's shown she can go the campaign distance in a way that he has not.