Senator Clinton has the highest unfavorable rating of any democrat candidate

[bigdarryl]

JESUS!!! in fact she's got the highest unfavorable of ANY candidate on either side. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/favorables/election_2008_democratic_candidates_running_in_2008_presidential_election
Rasmussen Reports™: The most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a mid-term election.

[Coyote_Bandit]

1. Here in red state hell

that is not news.

Should she get the party nomination, Hillary will polarize voters to turn out against her in a way no other candidate will.

[aquart]

13. Doesn't matter. Democrats outnumber Republicans.

The Democratic candidate wins.

[Coyote_Bandit]

18. Ummmmm

The electoral college is still in force. It is possible to win the popular vote and lose the electoral vote - and the election.

Dems do not outnumber pukes here in red state hell.

[dtotire]

23. Democrats Are Not A Majority

While there may be more Democrats than Republicans, Independent voters are almost as numerous. If Hillary turns them off, they may vote Republican.

[journalist3072]

2. And what exactly are we supposed to take away from this?

I mean really, this isn't any surprise. The media loves to portray Sen. Clinton as some cold, calculating person. That's really all we've ever heard from the media about her. How calculating she is. Someone who wants power. And they've gone so far as to question why she has stayed married.

And because many people are too lazy to go do their own research about her, they'll just believe what they are being fed by the media.

[MethuenProgressive]

9. "Don't nominate Clinton, many don't like her. Or Obama, a black can't win. Or a Jew..."

We should stay safe, and just nominate a pretty white Christian male, I geuss...

[MaineDem]

3. "Democratic" candidate. n/t

[meg]

16. Good catch!

I guess among Republicans a competent female would be intimidating.

[MethuenProgressive]

4. "of any democrat candidate" That's 'Democratic' candidate...

And yet the Republicans can't beat her in New York. Funny, isn't it?

[sellitman]

8. More Fundies down south.

Not many up north. They will flock to the polls to drown her out.

They are 25% of the Republican base.

[MethuenProgressive]

10. So we should run only "fundies"?

That'd be the safest thing, right? Who cares if "our" fundie doesn't represent our Party's positions... Let's find us one and nominate him! ("Him," right?)

[sellitman]

12. That's not what I meant...Geeeez!

If less Repugs show up at the polls to vote then our nominee has a better chance to overcome the dirty voting machines.

Hillary will energize a huge portion of the Repugs to get to the polls.

It's math.

[flyarm]

5. and on washington journal this morn someone called in saying the guy who is running

part of her campaign is anti union..sorry i hadn't had my coffee yet and missed his name..and just barely caught the caller..but does anyone know about this??

just what we need a anti union candidate..it won't happen..the best money and greatest help Kerry had was the unions..when it mattered...how the hell can Hillary hire an anti union guy to work her campaign..and we expect to win??

arrrrrrhhhh

she won't win dog catcher without the unions!!

fly

[Buzz Clik]

7. Anti-union? Seems highly unlikely.

[flyarm]

15. OK GETTING COFFEE IN ME..THE PERSON SAID THIS CAMPAIGN MAN WAS A FREE TRADE GUY..

and anti union..i am only repeated what a caller said..on Washington Journal..i know nothing about her campaign people..

fly

[Buzz Clik]

17. Well, as the silly season approaches, people say silly things.

Everyone will have their pet issues, and they will show no mercy on a candidate who does not bleed for their cause.

As I recall, part of Nader's complaint about Gore was Gore's willingness to compromise on environmental issues. Seven years later, it's Gore who has had a far greater impact on the awareness of environmental issues than Nader.

:shrug:

[Kitsune]

21. flyarm's correct, actually

One of her high-end campaign officials works at a firm that advertises itself to management as the solution to stopping unionization attempts by the workforce. Kicking myself for forgetting the names, but I've heard this five or six times already on Democracy Now, Thom Hartmann, etc.

[flyarm]

25. exactly what was said..maybe someone else knows about this person..

we need to know..being union my whole working life..it is important to know..i am not saying i know..i don't i am only repeating what was said on Washington journal by a caller that was very concerned about it..

maybe someone here knows more about her campaign workers..we need to know this..is all i am saying..maybe it is incorrect..that should also be known..

fly

[ToeBot]

36. The name you're looking for is Mark Penn. n/t

[paulk]

37. why does it matter?

what matters is Hillary's voting record vis a vis union issues, which is very good. She will get union support for this election if she is the candidate.

These "quilt by association" attacks on HRC are bullshit, frankly.

[illinoisprogressive]

41. I saw this on WJ this morning and the Nation wrote several articles

spotlighting this guy. He is a pollster who has been with the clintons since the mid nineties. He is more advisor.
Penn works with alot of repubs and is a corporate shill. he specializes in union busting.
Ari Bermann wrote the articles for the Nation so you should be able to google them to look more closely at this.
but, don't forget Carvelle and his letter to help out uncle Libby. Or his assignment to take down Howard Dean.

[rinsd]

51. That's the new meme from Ariana Bermington

See even though unions love Hillary and she has voted consistent with their views, sh has employed Mark Penn. Mark Penn's polling firm was bought by a larger firm a couple of years ago. The firm that bought Mark Penn's firm has been involved in PR moves against union efforts. He is not inolved with this partiular work.

But somehow that makes Hillary anti-union...:eyes:

[Buzz Clik]

6. Here's the data for the GOP candidates

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/favorables/election_2008_republican_candidates_running_in_2008_presidential_election

Giuliani looks amazingly strong.

[MethuenProgressive]

11. She's at 47% - the same # as the # of registered Republicans...

Somebody here thinks Republicans should pick our nominee?
Not me.

[jefferson_dem]

24. Repukes do not comprise 47% of the electorate. To reach that much disapproval, she also turns

off some Dems and Independents. That should be no surprise given the nature of some comments here on DU even.

[w4rma]

27. 47% is her favorability. Hillary's *Disapproval* is 51%. (nt)

[jefferson_dem]

28. D'oh. Of course. Thanks for the correction.

n/t

[meg]

14. You're giving props to the Republican dirty tricksters

I'll wager that 90% of the unfavorable ratings were generated by the relentless dirty tricks from Barbara Comstock et al. I for one don't want to reward that.

[Bucky]

46. Damn straight! No one has the right to dislike Clinton unless they're really Republican moles!

The only possible reason someone could criticize Sen Clinton or call into question the righteousness of her coronation nomination is if they're crack smoking Republicans posing as Democrats. Anyone who thinks anything negative about Clinton--I say pfffft, off with their heads!

[BeyondGeography]

19. That's OK, we specialize in nominating people the country doesn't like

How else do you lose 7 of the last 10 presidential elections?

[thethinker]

20. This is true

Many of us living in red states have posted about this for a long time.

The republicans organize their base using fear and hate. They have always organized that way. Their base fears and hates Hilary. I think this is because the base listened to Rush for years. The republicans are very disillusioned with the failures of Bush. Many of them will stay home or not vote - unless the party organizers get them to the polls to vote against someone they fear and hate.

Why do you think Sen. Clinton has receive so many campaign contributions from republican big wigs? Why do you think the media was telling us she was our front runner before anyone was in the race?

I understand perfectly well why the republicans want to run against her. But, what I don't understand is why the DLC would be backing our weakest candidate. These guys know how the game is played. They know the odds. So where are they coming from? Don't they want a democrat in the white house?

I know many of you love and adore Hilary. I like her a lot too. But she is not the strongest democratic candidate. That is just the facts of life.

[dtotire]

22. Senator Clinton has the highest unfavorable rating of any democrat candidate

It would be stupid to nominate someone who has high unfavorable ratings. We could nominate Edwards, Obama, Gore, or Richardson. The party has many people who could be excellent candidates.

[Tom Rinaldo]

26. Very interesting about Clark

Wes Clark has the lowest unfavorable rating of any Democrat listed. Second to John Edwards, Clark also has the next best favorable to unfavorable numbers ratio comparison of the 9 Democrats listed (Gore was not included). Clark also has the second highest favorable numbers among Liberals, with 52% of Liberals holding a favorable opinion of him, while Hillary scores highest in that group at 55%. No other Democrat scores above 50% with that group, Obama comes in third at 46% (figures for this measurement were not provided for Kucinich and Gravel).


But what makes the above figures even more interesting, is that Clark also tops the 9 Democrats listed for favorable opinions held of them by Conservatives, with 12% so inclined toward him. Edwards and Richardson follow at 11% by that baramoter of support. Hillary Clinton, despite being viewed by most activist Democrats as the most centrist of the current leading candidates, lags at 9% approval among Conservatives.

[AndreaCG]

30. I wish Wes would run

But he's taking too damn long. He doesn't have the luxury of waiting that Gore does.

[Pyrzqxgl]

32. I think Clark is up for a VP nod.

Edwards/Clark would be one hell of a ticket.

[Bucky]

47. I'd drop everything and join up if Clark jumps in. BUT... let's be honest about the stats here

Clark got a really low unfavorable rating in part because he's less well known than many of the candidates. Edwards and Obama also had higher favorable thav unfavorable ratings, but 88% adn 94% of respondents, respectively, already have opinions of them--good or bad. Clark only has a 28% negative rating, but only 67% of respondents took a stand on him.

The information isn't complete, but I'll hazard a guess that people who like him are much more likely to have heard of him, so that 4-to3 positive to negative ratio on him is not likely to hold as awareness of him gets higher. On the plus side for our favorite general, his 51-33% theoretical loss to McCain would also close up as his recognition rose.

I wouldn't read too much into this survey for an undeclared notional cadidate. A lot about Clark running depends on his ability to marketed and his discipline in presenting himself in a way consistant with that marketing. Tom Rinaldo keeps telling me to hold on, Wes will be jumping in. I'll bite if he does, but I won't hold my breath hoping he will.

As a side note, Edwards looks really strong in this survey: he beats both Giuliani and McCain. No other Democrat does this. I'm still antsy about him, but he's really performing and the recent smear campaigns against him seem only to have improved his standing with the public. Go figure.

[mckeown1128]

29. but...b-but she is married to Bill Clinton....

[mnhtnbb]

31. I hope people wake up to this before the nomination is sewn up.

It's a helluva lot easier to run a likable candidate.

[draft_mario_cuomo]

33. Political math 101

HRC's 47% favorable+51% unfavorable==Republican president

We deserve to lose if we are dumb enough to nominate someone who a majority of the country does not like. Her numbers continue to drop. She is now down to a 47% favorable rating. Even if she magically (you have to have "faith"!) wins 100% of that 47% she will still lose barring another miracle (Faith! again!) in the electoral college. The way things are going she will probably be in the low 40's in favorability by the end of this year. Yet, it seems, suicidal Dems will still blindly follow her off the cliff as they then spend four years whining about the Republican their nomination votes elected. HRC fans are this year's version of 2000's Nader supporters. :eyes:

[sampsonblk]

34. Campaigns move votes, and she's the best campaigner

Otherwise, we could just crunch all the numbers now and appoint a president-elect.

[AtomicKitten]

35. so, like does she win a prize or something?

Gore/Obama 2008

[Hippo_Tron]

38. "Democratic" candidate

I know it has already been said, but I have to make a habit of pointing that out whenever I see it. Intentionally or not, using "Democrat" in place of "Democratic" is a slur against the party.

[illinoisprogressive]

39. It stays up in that area. her negatives are constant. And no indies or cross overs will vote

[Alamom]

40. She's just too liberal........

:eyes:

[illinoisprogressive]

42. Surrounding herself with the likes of Penn and Carvelle don't help

[Alamom]

43. Regardless, Penn & Carville are among the male population

who have what it takes to support a woman running for President.



........Clinton, in contrast, is a classic Democrat. She does best among women, Democratic partisans, older voters, and less-educated and lower-income workers.
She trumps Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, her top rival and an African-American, among blacks.
.....She draws only 1 in 4 white men in the Democratic sample.

>

Obama gets one-fourth of his support from African-Americans, who provide Clinton one-fifth of her support. However, looking at black voters as a group, Clinton leads: 35% of blacks support Obama, while 41% support Clinton — one of her strongest showings among any demographic group.

The Illinois senator has strong appeal to independents and higher-income voters. He ties Clinton among those who have a college degree or more. But he trails her by a yawning 21 percentage points among those with a high school education or less. Ed Sarpolus, an independent pollster based in Michigan, says Obama will have to do better among blue-collar workers, black and white, to prevail in Democratic primaries.

Edwards draws support from groups that Democrats often struggle to reach: men, whites, moderates and the well-to-do. One-third of his supporters make more than $75,000 a year, the highest percentage of any Democrat. Despite efforts to cultivate labor-union members and increasingly pointed opposition to the Iraq war, Edwards shows limited appeal to lower-income workers and liberals. He does no better among anti-war voters than the other Democrats.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-06-10-voters_N.htm

6/10/07

[calteacherguy]

44. Old news my friend, old news. And unfortunately...it ain't gonna change!

Hillary is a well-known quantity.

[opihimoimoi]

45. This is called NEGATIVE FRAMEWORKING...a common tactic used by Pubs

to divide us Dems

[Bucky]

48. With all due respect, if Clinton is divisive among Democrats, you can't blame Republicans

I'll suggest to you that 90% of poeple who gripe about Clinton's possible nomination and recoil at her arrogant "inevitability" arguments are still going to vote for Clinton if she ever gets nominated. Probably more than 90%, actually. If we care enough to bitch about her, we care enough to vote for her when the alternative is a charming crook like Giuliani or a well-meaning whipping boy like McCain.

Rather than dismissing people who worry about Clinton as ignorant tools, as you do, falling for two-bit Republican tactics, you might want to try reaching out to us with an argument that doesn't insult our intelligence.

I've been around in politics long enough, I know what a wedge attack looks like. People who worry about Clinton's inability to reach out to "purple" swing voters aren't idiots. and they aren't falling for a Republican smear job against Mrs. Clinton. They're genuinely worried that she won't be able to produce a majority of voters on election day and I suggest that her supporters find an honest, non-insulting way of arguing against that concern.
.

[Virginian]

49. Democrat is a noun; Democratic is an adjective

Most of the time it is the GOP that makes that "mistake".
She has the highest unfavorable rating of any DEMOCRATIC candidate.

[Anaxamander]

50. Doesn't surprise me at all

I teach college English and on the last day in fall, I asked my students to write down who they would vote for if elections were held that day. Of course, I told them they could abstain if they wanted.

Now, I only asked who they would vote for, but 12 students out of 38 told me specifically that they would NOT vote for Hillary. Important to note that Barack Obama got the most votes, so we're not dealing with a conservative sample here.