Clinton Is Even More Unpopular – Trending Stuff

To get a president with historically low poll numbers, Donald Trump can at least find solace in this: Hillary Clinton is performing worse.

Trump’s 2016 Democratic competition is viewed favorably by just 39 percent of Americans in the Bloomberg National Poll, two points lower than the president. It’s the second-lowest score for Clinton because the survey started tracking her in September 2009.

The secretary of state has ever been a figure, but this poll shows she’s even lost popularity among those who voted in November.

Over a fifth of Clinton voters say they have an unfavorable opinion of her. By comparison, just 8 percent of likely Clinton voters felt that way in the closing Bloomberg poll before the election, and just 6 percent of Trump’s Republicans now say they view him unfavorably.

“There’s growing discontent with Hillary Clinton even as she has mostly stayed out of the spotlight,” said pollster J. Ann Selzer, who oversaw the survey. “It’s not a pox on the Democratic house because numbers for other Democrats are good.”

The former first lady and New York senator has made a few speeches and occasionally tweaks Trump on Twitter, but has mostly kept out of sight as a defeat in November that shocked the political establishment and amazed markets.

In follow-up interviews with survey participants, Clinton voters denied that their feelings about her had anything to do with her losing the election and, thus, helping Trump move into the White House.

Read the survey questions and methodology here.

Their remarks reflected the ongoing angst among Democrats about how best to position themselves against Trump and Republicans in 2018 and beyond. Many said they wanted Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont had won the Democratic nomination, or that they never liked Clinton and just voted for her because she had been the lesser of two bad decisions.

“She didn’t feel authentic or genuine to me,” stated Chris Leininger, 29, an insurance agent from Fountain Valley, California. “She was hard to enjoy. ”

Leininger, an independent voter who leans Democratic, said she found Sanders much more likable and also a better story to tell voters.

“But I don’t blame her for Trump,” she said. “There were lots of variables that fed into Trump getting a president and she was one of them. ”

As was the case throughout the campaign, Clinton suffers from gender and racial gaps. Only 35 percent of men hold a positive view of her, compared to 43 percent of women. And she is liked by just 32 percent of whites, while 51 percent of non-whites do.

Low Point

Clinton’s lowest reading ever in the Bloomberg poll — one percentage point lower than her current popularity — was recorded in September 2015, as she battled with Sanders before the first primary ballots were cast and as the scandal surrounding her use of a personal email server escalated.

“I felt like there was a smugness and that she was merely a politician who had been known as a Democrat, but might have been a Republican,” stated poll participant Robert Taylor, 46, a second-grade instructor from suburban Chicago who voted for Clinton, but would have chosen Sanders as the Democratic nominee.

Before the election, Taylor said he felt negatively about Clinton, but he doesn’t blame her for Trump being president.

“I could vote for a capable leader or I could vote for a jackass,” he said of his decisions. “I think my negativity about her are there if Trump was elected or not. ”

Ray Cowart, 75, the retired proprietor of a small software firm from Elk Park, North Carolina, said he voted for Clinton even though he didn’t like her because “she was the better of two bad options. ”

Asked who he would rather have a beer with if neither one of them was president, Cowart said he’d rather stay home. “I wouldn’t move, even when I was thirsty,” he said.

In contrast to Clinton, former President Barack Obama has worked nicely with a few distance from the spotlight. He’s viewed by 61 percent, up 5 points since December and at the maximum level since the survey started tracking him in September 2009.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is just one percentage point below Obama and in his highest level since the survey started asking about him in December 2009.

The telephone poll of 1,001 American adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, higher among subgroups. It was conducted July 8-12 by Iowa-based Selzer & Co..

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/