From the last Morning Jolt until after the cruise…
Shock: Americans Starting to Remember Why They Never Liked Hillary
Isn’t this an interesting development, a major curveball for all the Hillary-is-inevitable true-believers:
Just 39 percent of all Americans have a favorable view of Clinton, compared to nearly half who say they have a negative opinion of her. That’s an eight-point increase in her unfavorable rating from an AP-GfK poll conducted at the end of April.
The drop in Clinton’s numbers extends into the Democratic Party. Seven in 10 Democrats gave Clinton positive marks, an 11-point drop from the April survey. Nearly a quarter of Democrats now say they see Clinton in an unfavorable light…
The survey suggests that voters aren’t sold on her reinvention: Only 4 in 10 voters say they view Clinton as “compassionate.” Just 3 in 10 said the word “honest” described her either very or somewhat well…
The percentage of respondents calling Clinton at least somewhat inspiring also slipped from 44 percent to 37 percent.
Even the number of voters saying Clinton is at least somewhat decisive, previously a strong point for the former New York senator, fell from 56 percent in April to 47 percent in the new poll.
Those Democrats will come home; they always do. But these numbers suggest she has terrible numbers among independents and (unsurprisingly) near-unanimous opposition from Republicans.
That’s the good news for the GOP. The bad news is no Republican polls well at all. The figure with the highest “favorable” rating is Jeb Bush at 31 percent, and his unfavorable number is 44 percent. Only one Republican is in double-digits in his ”very favorable” response: Donald Trump.
Before the Trump fans break out the party hats, his overall numbers are terrible: 28 percent favorable, 58 percent unfavorable. An astounding 43 percent of respondents have a “very unfavorable” view of him, making him the most unpopular figure in the survey.
Other surprises: 58 percent of respondents don’t know enough about Scott Walker to give an opinion; 75 percent said the same about John Kasich.
I’m surprised 14 percent of respondents had an opinion of former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore — 4 percent favorable, 10 percent unfavorable.
Revealingly, the AP survey did not ask about Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, Martin O’Malley, or any of the other Democratic presidential options.
The sample splits 29 percent Democrat, 26 percent independent, 25 percent Republican, with another 17 percent saying “none of these.”