In an early poll determining the strengths and weaknesses of the various potential candidates for the 2008 presidential race, both Hillary Clinton and John Kerry face a skeptical electorate. Both candidates have at least 47% of the voters opposing them already, the second-highest of any would-be Democratic contenders. Another previous nominee takes first prize, while a presidential brother takes the top spot for the GOP:

With the presidential election more than two years away, a CNN poll released Monday suggests that nearly half of Americans would "definitely vote against" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Respondents were asked whether they would "definitely vote for," "consider voting for," or "definitely vote against" three Democrats and three Republicans who might run for president in 2008.

Regarding potential Democratic candidates, 47 percent of respondents said they would "definitely vote against" both Clinton, the junior senator from New York who is running for re-election this year, and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, the party's candidate in 2004.

Forty-eight percent said the same of former Vice President Al Gore, who has repeatedly denied he intends to run again for president. ... As for Bush, brother of the current president, 63 percent said there was no way he would get their vote. The younger Bush has denied interest in running for president in 2008.

Hillary also had the highest positive result from the poll, with 22% ready to cast votes in support of putting a Clinton back in the White House. That comes to a negative 25% rating, which cannot bode well for anyone wanting to win a primary nomination. Kerry fared far worse, with a negative 33%. Rudy Giuliani comes up with a -11%, while McCain surprisingly scored a -20%, almost the same as Hillary.

It certainly has some interest, but at this stage of the process this poll is hardly determinative. The race will not begin even preliminarily until next summer, and the upcoming midterms may have a tremendous impact on these numbers, especially for Hillary. I would be interested to see the same poll twelve months from now. In the meantime, the poll is notable for who has apparently been left out: Mark Warner and Barack Obama for the Democrats (as well as John Edwards, who has slipped through all the cracks), and Mitt Romney, George Allen, and Condi Rice for the GOP, the latter just for the fun of seeing how those numbers would look.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry is

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Hillary, Kerry, Gore Face Near-Majority No Votes:

» But Who Would The Vote For? from Rhymes With Right
Looks like Americans have a number of candidates they oppose in 2008 -- but not any who they particulalry support. Regarding potential Democratic candidates, 47 percent of respondents said they would "definitely vote against" both Clinton, the junior s... [Read More]

Tracked on June 20, 2006 5:51 AM

» But Who Would The Vote For? from Rhymes With Right
Looks like Americans have a number of candidates they oppose in 2008 -- but not any who they particulalry support. Regarding potential Democratic candidates, 47 percent of respondents said they would "definitely vote against" both Clinton, the junior s... [Read More]

Tracked on June 20, 2006 5:53 AM

» Hillary Clinton Gets 47 Percent “Definite No” in CNN Poll from Outside The Beltway | OTB
Nearly half of Americans would “definitely not vote for” Hillary Clinton , according to a new CNN poll. With the presidential election more than two years away, a CNN poll released Monday suggests that nearly half of Americans would “... [Read More]

Tracked on June 20, 2006 8:59 AM