House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy came under fire recently for comments the California Congressman made about Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers after the start of the House’s Benghazi panel.
He may have been forced to walk back those comments for needlessly politicizing a very serious investigation, but for those keeping score he may have been technically accurate.
The exact effect the Benghazi issue has had on Hillary isn’t fully clear, however, it is evident that Clinton’s approval rating has dramatically dropped since her time at the State Department- the number of Americans who view the former Secretary of State in a favorable light has plummeted and Clinton now faces record low poll numbers.
She is even underwater with female voters, with nearly 50% having a negative opinion of her.
““Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” McCarthy said on Fox News. “But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened had we not fought.”
A recent Fox News poll illustrates Clinton’s problems.
“Hillary Clinton’s personal favorable ratings hit a low mark in the latest Fox News national poll…
Some 38 percent of voters view Clinton favorably, down from 45 percent in May. The downward shift comes from the fact that half of women now rate her negatively. Positive views among Democrats are also down since May (-11 points).”
Fox News Poll
Opinion Of Hillary Clinton
Now/ May Record High
Low 2015 August 2012
Favorable 38% 45% 63%
Unfavorable 56% 49% 31%
September 20-22, 2015
Registered Voters ± 3% Pts.
Fox News Poll
Opinion Of Hillary Clinton
May Record High
Now 2015 August 2012
Favorable 71% 82% 88%
Unfavorable 23% 12% 9%
September 20-22, 2015
Democratic Registered Voters ±5% Pts.
The Fox poll shows Clinton at a historic low.
“Overall, a record high 56 percent of voters now have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton….”
Clinton has been on a national roller coaster ride with her approval ratings ever since she first appeared as the feisty wife to then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton.
“She was actively involved in policy and the health care reform effort for her husband. And she came under fire in 1992 for stridently defending her own career, saying on 60 Minutes in 1992 that she wouldn’t be “some little woman standing by my husband like Tammy Wynette.”
“I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession, which I entered before my husband was in public life,” she said at another point. Hillary Clinton’s 1992 campaign comments made her one of the most divisive women in the country as first lady.”
>>>Since then, Clinton dealt with her husband’s impeachment and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, among scores of others while in the White House. She ran for Senate from New York after leaving 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2000, she ran for President in 2008, subsequently becoming Secretary of State after losing to Obama.
After once enjoying sky-high poll numbers as Secretary of State, scandals like Benghazi, revelations from WikiLeaks, and now multiple investigations into the legality of her email system have ravaged Clinton-she’s gone from favorably viewed and trusted as one of America’s most popular politicians to freefall, viewed skeptically and in an extremely untrustworthy light.
It’s not just Fox News polls that show Hillary in distress. According to Gallup, Clinton’s favorable raring is at a near record low of 41%, with over half of voters seeing her in a negative light.
“ Dogged by continued scrutiny of her email practices as secretary of state, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s favorability with the American public has sunk to one of its lowest levels in Gallup’s 23-year trend. Currently, 41% of U.S. adults say they have a favorable opinion of the Democratic front-runner, while 51% hold an unfavorable view.
Clinton’s deflated favorable rating reflects the challenging political environment she has faced recently. Her use of a private server and email account as secretary of state remains an ongoing controversy and has prompted congressional and FBI investigations.”
Gallup also analyzed Clinton’s downward spiral since first bursting on the American political scene in 1992.
“Clinton’s sub-40% favorable ratings in 1992 were mostly a product of the public’s lack of familiarity with her, rather than any kind of broad unpopularity. By contrast, her current 41% favorable rating is arguably her worst, given her nearly universal name recognition. Her present rating is about as low as it was in March 2001, during her first few months in office as a U.S. senator from New York. Perhaps more importantly, it was also after controversial pardons that her husband, President Bill Clinton, granted at the end of his presidency, and after the Clintons took furnishings and other gifts that were White House property when they left.
More generally, since Clinton emerged as a public figure in 1992, her favorability peaked at 67% in December 1998 after President Clinton was impeached, and waned in the years thereafter — bottoming out at 44% after the Clintons left the White House. Her favorability improved somewhat during her time in the Senate, reaching as high as 58% in 2007, just after she announced her first bid for the presidency.
As secretary of state in Barack Obama’s administration, her favorability rating never fell below 60%. But upon leaving her cabinet post and returning to the political fray, Clinton saw her marks begin a downward slide, hastened by reports about her private email server earlier this year. In particular, her favorable ratings have come full circle among independents and Republicans, ultimately falling this year to the unflattering levels she received during her first presidential campaign.”
Gallup also says that Clinton’s numbers may continue to flounder, possibly causing Democrats to look more seriously at Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, or even bring Vice President Joe Biden into the race.
“As Clinton continues to field inquiries from the media and government into her email use as secretary of state, her favorable rating among national adults has fallen to near-record lows. But she remains generally liked among Democrats themselves, so it is still an open question as to whether media reports of her email situation will have an effect on her ability to obtain the Democratic presidential nomination.
Nonetheless, if Clinton’s national image problem persists, this may cause concern for Democratic voters looking to back a nominee who can win the general election. At the moment, Sanders appears to be alone among Clinton’s current cadre of opposing contestants in showing signs of an increased positive position in Democrats’ minds, and he remains unknown to almost half of Democrats nationwide. This development may seem inviting for other potential candidates, such as Vice President Joe Biden.”
