According to Gallup:
PRINCETON, NJ — Hillary Clinton lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to Barack Obama, but in one respect she now ranks ahead of Obama. The president’s current favorable rating of 56% is down 22 percentage points since January. Over the same time span, Clinton’s favorable rating has changed little, and now, at 62%, it exceeds Obama’s.
The results are based on an Oct. 1-4 Gallup survey. The poll was conducted before Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, which could have helped to improve his favorable rating over the 56% measured in the poll; however, it’s not clear that any such shift would have lasted. In the first days after the prize’s announcement, Obama’s presidential job approval rating noticeably increased, but it has since retreated to its prior level.
The results are based on an Oct. 1-4 Gallup survey. The poll was conducted before Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, which could have helped to improve his favorable rating over the 56% measured in the poll; however, it’s not clear that any such shift would have lasted. In the first days after the prize’s announcement, Obama’s presidential job approval rating noticeably increased, but it has since retreated to its prior level.
The change in the relative popularity of Clinton and Obama since January may reflect the realities of their new roles. Obama came into office as president with a 78% favorable rating, among the highest Gallup has measured since it began tracking favorability in 1992. But after nearly nine months in office in which he has made or confronted difficult decisions — ranging from the economic stimulus package, to the auto industry bailout, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to health insurance reform, Obama’s support has declined. His favorable rating now stands at 56%, and has fallen 10 points just since the last reading, in July. (Obama’s job approval rating has followed a similar downward trajectory.)
Of course, I’m sure Hillary would have preferred if we’d seen these numbers 18 months ago.
