Saturday, May 21, 2016

Donald Trump’s and Hillary Clinton’s High Negatives Could Prove Tough to Lower

Elections are always a game of positives versus negatives. If you’re the candidate, you do your best to talk yourself up and your opponent down. This year’s presidential brawl will test the depths of those downs and—very likely—the limits of both front-runner’s efforts to go up.
In the battle over image, the two likely presidential nominees face a challenge not seen in modern history. No modern candidate has entered the fray at this point of the race with deeper negatives than either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. And if history is any guide, their room for improvement is scant, especially because of their nearly 100% name recognition.
CLICK CHART to ENLARGE
In the most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, those holding a negative view of Mrs. Clinton exceeded those who held a positive view by 24 percentage points. It was even worse for Mr. Trump, who came in 41 points underwater.
Since 1992, the only soon-to-be nominee who went into May with even faintly similar numbers was Bill Clinton, with a net negative of 11 points. His next closest competitor on the negative index: Mitt Romney in 2012, who came in at minus 3 points.
So is there precedent for any sharp reversal of fortune on the image front? Yes, but it doesn’t bode well for either Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

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