A new Washington Post/ABC poll provides more bad news for the Hillary Clinton campaign. While she still leads Bernie Sanders for the Democrat nomination, she has lost 21-points among Democrats since July. An overwhelming majority of Democrats now support someone other than Hillary as their nominee for President.
Currently, Hillary has the support of 42 percent of Democrats nationally, the first time she has polled under 50 percent in the WaPo/ABC survey. Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders has 24 percent and Vice President Joe Biden, who is not yet a candidate, has 21 percent. In other words, almost 60 percent of Democrats are no longer “ready for Hillary.”
While Hillary’s support has dropped across all demographic and age groups, the drop in her support among female voters is particularly noteworthy. In mid-July, 71 percent of female voters supported Hillary for the nomination. Today, just 42 percent of women support her, a collapse of almost 30 points.
Hillary’s collapse among female voters is even more pronounced if you factor race into the equation. Among white women, Hillary has just 31 percent support, tied with Bernie Sanders. The “gender gap” that pundits obsess over has always been more about race and marital status than simply gender. Married women are more Republican than single women, while black women are far more Democrat than white women.
Based on this latest survey, Hillary’s numbers among women, then, are simply matching the normal political leanings of this group. While she posts better numbers among women than men, she is not benefiting from an outpouring of support for her campaign because of her gender.
Hillary’s basic problem is that a strong majority of Americans, of both sexes, do not believe she is “honest and trustworthy.” Just 46 percent of women believe Hillary is honest, down 11 points since June. Only a third of men believe she is honest, down 16 points since June. The declines in her honesty ratings are roughly the same for both genders.
Amazingly, though, 70 percent of Democrats do not think the email scandal surrounding Hillary Clinton is a legitimate campaign issue. If we assume that is a true reflection of how they feel, then Clinton’s collapsing support is even more troubling for her campaign. It is far more likely they have absorbed the implications of the scandal without admitting its details.
Especially because the email scandal is beginning to cause a serious problem for Hillary in any general election. A majority of Americans (55 percent) disapprove of her handling of the situation. A similar majority (54 percent) believe she tried to cover up the facts. Further, half believe she broke the rules by using her own private email server.
It must be noted that these final figures are among all adults, not registered voters. If the past is any guide, her standing among those who will actually decide the election is far worse.
Americans simply do not vote for Presidents who lie to them.
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