Hillary Clinton Most Favorable and Familiar Among Potential 2016ers, Poll Finds
Hillary Clinton Most Favorable and Familiar Among Potential 2016ers, Poll Finds
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton walks onto the stage for the official release of the No Ceilings Full Participation Report on March 9, 2015 in New York City.Spencer Platt—Getty Images
Hillary Clinton may be taking heat over a private email controversy, but a new poll finds she’s still more recognizable and viewed more favorably by the American public than any other potential presidential contender.
Gallup’s survey of 1,522 adults in early March, right around the time when the news broke that Clinton used a personal email address and server during her time as Secretary of State, found that 89% of Americans are familiar enough with the former First Lady to had an opinion about her and half were positive. Thirty-nine percent of those polled had a negative opinion.
The release of the results comes after Tuesday’s news conference, during which Clinton addressed the controversy but appeared to prompt more questions than provide answers.
Among Republicans, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are the most recognizable, though slightly more of those polled had an unfavorable opinion of Christie than a favorable one.
Governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana could face an uphill battle going into 2016, with low familiarity and overall opinion. And retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson is a bit of an outlier: although only 28% of those surveyed know enough about him to weigh in, more people like him than don’t.
Teenager: Hillary Rodham poses in her 1965 senior class portrait from Park Ridge East High School in Illinois. APLaw School Student: Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham pose for a snapshot at Yale Law School in 1972. They married in 1975.Clinton Presidential LibraryMother: Clinton poses with her husband, Bill, then in his first term as governor, with their week-old daughter, Chelsea, on March 5, 1980.Donald R. Broyles—APCampaign Companion: Clinton celebrates her husband's victory in a Democratic runoff in Little Rock, Ark. on June 8, 1982.APArkansas First Lady: Clinton is seen in her inaugural ball gown in 1985. A. Lynn—APPolitical Wife: Clinton celebrates her husband's inauguration in Little Rock on Sept. 20, 1991.Danny Johnston—APDignitary: Clinton receives an honorary law degree from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., on May 30, 1992.Chris Ocken—APCampaigner: Clinton speaks at a meeting during the presidential campaign for her husband in Buffalo, N.Y., on April 4, 1992.Bill Sikes—APFirst Lady: Clinton appears at the MTV Inauguration Ball at the Washington Convention Center on Jan. 20, 1993. Shayna Brennan—APSecond-Term First Lady: Clinton attends the Inaugural Ball after her husband was sworn in to a second term on Jan. 20, 1997. Brooks Kraft—CorbisNew York Senator: Clinton speaks at a press conference with female Democratic senators in Washington on June 21, 2006. Brooks Kraft—CorbisCommittee Member: Clinton listens to the testimony of Lt. General David Petraeus to the Senate Armed Forces Committee at a hearing on Capital Hill in Washington on Jan. 23, 2007. Brooks Kraft—CorbisCandidate: Clinton holds a a campaign event in Portsmouth, N.H., while running for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sept. 2, 2007. Brooks Kraft—CorbisCampaigner: Clinton speaks at a campaign stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Jan. 2, 2008. Brooks Kraft—CorbisSecretary of State: Clinton kisses President Obama at a joint session of Congress in Washington on Feb. 24, 2009. Brooks Kraft—CorbisWitness: Clinton joins Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Dec. 3, 2009. Brooks Kraft—CorbisWitness: Clinton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on Jan. 23, 2013.J. Scott Applewhite—APAuthor: Clinton attends a signing memoir, "Hard Choices," at a Costco in Arlington, Va., on June 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—CorbisGrandmother: Clinton holds her granddaughter Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on Sept. 27, 2014.Office of President Clinton/APOnce and Future Candidate: Clinton speaks at Iowa Senator Tom Harkin's annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, on Sept. 14, 2014. Brooks Kraft—Corbis
