Posted on 02/21/2005 8:32:45 PM PST by Libloather
Clinton's Popularity Up in State, Even Among Republicans
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
Published: February 22, 2005
Remember Hillary Rodham Clinton and the conventional wisdom about how polarizing a figure she is? Well, think again.
Recent polls have shown that Mrs. Clinton, the junior senator from New York, may have turned a corner politically, sharply reducing the number of voters in the state who harbor negative views of her.
Pollsters say the change is remarkable for a woman who has long been shadowed by a seemingly implacable group of voters - commonly referred to as Hillary haters - who dislike her, no matter what she does, and who pose a potential obstacle to any presidential ambitions she may harbor.
A measure of how far Senator Clinton has come was on display Sunday when Senator John McCain, Republican from Arizona, said on "Meet the Press" that he thought Mrs. Clinton, a Democrat, would make a good president, although he said that he would support his party's nominee. She returned the compliment, saying when asked by the program's host, Tim Russert, that Senator McCain would be a good president.
The changing view of Mrs. Clinton coincides with a period following the November election in which she offered a series of speeches filled with references to faith and prayer, while putting less emphasis on polarizing social issues like gay marriage and abortion.
The result of these comments has been an emerging image of Senator Clinton that is far different from the caricature that Republicans have painted of her: that of a secular liberal whose stances are largely at odds with a public that they say is concerned about the nation's moral direction.
Political analysts say the themes Senator Clinton has emphasized - combined with the hard-working image she has sought to project - appear to be causing large numbers of voters to re-evaluate her in New York, although not nationally, where the number of people who disapprove of her is still high. In a Marist poll last fall, roughly 4 in 10 Americans had negative views of her.
Her progress appealing to once skeptical New Yorkers was illuminated by a New York Times poll released last week that showed that 21 percent of New Yorkers had an unfavorable opinion of how she is handling her job, down significantly from the 29 percent of voters who expressed similar sentiments in October 2002.
(In two recent back-to-back surveys, pollsters for Quinnipiac University, in Hamden, Conn., also found a notable decline in the number of New York voters who expressed a negative view of Mrs. Clinton.)
At the same time, Senator Clinton's job approval rating has increased to 69 percent from 58 percent in October 2002, according to the Times poll. That is higher even than the 63 percent approval rating of Charles E. Schumer, the senior senator from New York who was re-elected last year to a second term with a record 71 percent of the vote and who is known for his attention to upstate concerns.
The new attitudes toward Mrs. Clinton may be forcing Republicans to reconsider how to deal with an opponent they had until now viewed as an enticing target because of the depth of negative feelings she inspires among large numbers of New York voters.
Independent political analysts say her strong standing may give pause to any big-name Republican thinking about challenging her in 2006, chief among them Rudolph W. Giuliani and Gov. George E. Pataki. In fact, a Quinnipiac poll released earlier this month found that Mrs. Clinton would defeat both Mr. Pataki and Mr. Giuliani in head-to-head contests.
"There isn't a long line of opponents forming to take her on in 2006," said Lee M. Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
But New York Republican leaders say that they are eager to challenge Senator Clinton, especially since Republicans from around the country will almost certainly provide plenty of money and other campaign support to defeat her, as they did in 2000.
New York Republicans also say that the senator has had a free ride so far and that her opponent in the campaign will have an easy time driving up her negative ratings - and halting her rise in the polls - by pointing out what they describe as her poor record of accomplishment and her liberal ideology.
Guiliani endorsed Bloomberg. That's why he won. It was very post 9/11. If Guiliani had endorsed Charlton Heston, he would have won.
Agree 100%....I can see that play out.
Let me see what's wrong with story !? 1.New York Slimes 2.New Yorkers Slimes 3. New York ;-/4. Billary.
No I don't know who's running in '08. But I know what people are screaming about around the water cooler. And I don't see some strong Republican for '08 to take this on. I think we're in trouble. I hope I'm wrong.
You are wrong.
We need someone so Conservative, he/she makes Reagan look like a moderate ;)
I'm till hanging on to the Fair Tax dream.
You are just blowing smoke, I lived through immigration reform voting in California the witch is talkin out her rear end about immigration, the Mexican Mafia in the RAT party will put out a contract on her if she were to ever get serious about immigrration. If anything she will let more of them in to vote demoRAT. Bubba Clinton did it in 1996. You are living in a fantasy world.
If you're going to tell me I'm wrong, at least tell me on what points.
This writer is frightfully accurate.
The writer is mentally ill.
Yes, it`s called blatant lying. It`s what bonafide sociopaths are very good at.
And you notice that already the doom and gloom posters are absolutely sure about our defeat in 2008 and Hillary triumphant march to the White House because Hillary will make a phony promise on illegal immigration, where all people know she is lying about this, but they will vote for her anyway because the doom and gloom guys on FR said so.
AH yes, my pretty, you have photoshop!
Hats off to you!
The changing view of Mrs. Clinton coincides with a period following the November election in which she offered a series of speeches filled with references to faith and prayer, while putting less emphasis on polarizing social issues like gay marriage and abortion.
This is a FAKE, don't believe her at this point in time, the foul mouthed idiot is trying to fool you agin. Wakeup fools, she is a snake. and will swallow you whole!
Conservatives won't vote for her. They could fail to vote for an uninspiring GOP candidate and tip the balance by their absence, but I don't see Hillary fulfilling some people's fantasies about having our own Berlin Wall. It'd be curious to see if how many women would vote for her.
BTW, I don't think all hispanics want illegal immigration
I don't think that putting the military on the border would result in just an end to illegal immigration anymore than I think a federal list of gun owners is just for my safety.
Me, too. My blood sugar is already dropping...
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