Sanders image became more positive than Clintons for 1st time in January
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. Hillary Clinton has
dropped to her lowest net favorable rating among Democrats since Gallup began
tracking her in July of 2015. Her net favorable rating has descended steadily to the current low point -- in
the midst of a crucial stage of the primary season which will help determine whether shell emerge the clear winner over Bernie Sanders before
the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this July.
Clintons image has undergone ups and downs over the course of the campaign season just as it has over her entire 25-year career in the national spotlight. However April so far has not been kind to the former secretary of state. Recent activity in the presidential election campaign is clearly taking a toll on the images of the leading presidential candidates both Democratic and Republican alike.
The degree of the depths to which Clinton has descended is evident when compared with her highest net favorable rating (63 among Democrats) in early November. This means her current net favorable rating among her own partisans is about half of what it
was at its peak last fall.
Clintons current net favorable rating of 36 among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents is based on 66 who give her a favorable rating and 30 who give her an unfavorable rating.
Sanders image also has slid some since April 1 returning to where it was in early March. The drops in both candidates images no doubt reflect the increasing volume of their criticism of one another. But Sanders image remains much more positive than Clintons -- 16 points higher on the net favorable scale.
From a long-range perspective Sanders image became more positive than Clintons for the first time in January and except for a period in the second half of February has been above hers since. He reached his personal net favorable rating apogee (63) in late March/early April and although its been down slightly since then his is still the most positive rating for any candidate of either party at this point by a large margin.
The big picture for Sanders is one of image improvement over time as he has become better known. This directly contrasts the big-picture trend for Clinton of a decline in her image over time particularly in recent weeks.
Bottom line on the Democrats at this point: Sanders clearly is the better liked of the two candidates among Democrats as Clintons image has suffered a significant decline in recent days.
On the GOP side its basically a pox on both your houses when it comes to Trump and Cruz. Both are doing poorly on an absolute basis compared with where they were in early January and compared with the Democratic candidates.
Among the three remaining Republican candidates Cruz has suffered the biggest crash in his image. Trump currently has a 9 net favorable rating among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents based on 52 favorable and 43 unfavorable ratings. Cruz is at 8 with 48 favorable and 40 unfavorable.
Cruzs net favorable rating among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents reached 48 at its high point in early January. From that point it fell steadily until reaching an all-time low of 7 in early March. It recovered some later that month but has since fallen again to 8.
Up until late February Trumps image was always less positive than Cruzs. But since that point the two candidates -- engaged in what can be termed direct warfare with each other -- have closely tracked one another in terms of their images.
Like Cruzs Trumps image fell in early March and has fallen again so far in April. Trumps current 9 is slightly higher than his all-time low of 5 recorded in early March.
Bottom line on the Republicans at this point: Republicans perceive both Cruz and Trump in about as negative a light now as they ever have and Republicans ratings of the two leading candidates are way below the ratings Democrats give their candidates (even though the latter are also down).
John Kasich meanwhile continues with a much more positive image among Republicans than either of the other two GOP candidates. Kasichs current 26 is down from his all-time high of 35 in March but has been edging up even as the images of Cruz and Trump have edged down.
