Hillary Showing Worrying Decline in Latest Presidential Polls

Just 39 percent of all Americans see Hillary Clinton in a positive light, while 49 percent have an unfavorable view the Democratic Presidential candidate according to a recent AP-GfK poll released.

This is an eight point increase in her unfavorable rate since an April AP-GfK poll was conducted.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released just one day prior showed Clinton with a 45 percent unfavorable rating, but a 52 percent favorable rating.

There are two factors that may be driving the different ratings. First, polls conducted online, as the AP-GfK poll was, often find lower favorability ratings for well-known figures than most polling conducted via phone. This is partly because online polling makes it easier for respondents to say they don’t have an opinion of the person they’re asked about. For instance, in the ABC-Post poll, just 4% say they have no opinion of Clinton, compared with 11% in the AP-GfK poll. These differences often hit the positive side of any poll question more than the negative one.

Beyond the methodological differences, the storylines for each poll stem mostly from timing. The AP-GfK poll finds that Clinton’s favorability ratings are down since April, shortly after she launched her campaign, without any data in the interim. The Washington Post-ABC News poll reports that her ratings are up since late-May, a time which marked a low point in Clinton’s recent ratings in that poll and in others, including CNN/ORC data.

The only other 2016 hopefully who rated higher in negative impressions among all Americans in the AP-GfK polls was Republican candidate Donald Trump with 58 percent.

The drop in Clinton’s numbers appears to extend into the Democratic Party.

Seven in 10 Democrats gave Clinton positive marks, an 11-point drop from the April survey conducted by AP-GfK. Nearly a quarter of Democrats now say they see Clinton in an unfavorable light.

In the Washington Post-ABC News poll, Clinton’s fellow Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders from Vermont, who has been rallying the masses at campaign events, had a 28 percent unfavorable impression among responders, but only a 27 percent favorable rating.

Republican candidates, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie were not far behind Clinton in negative impressions in the AP-Gfk poll, tied at 44 percent unfavorable ratings among all Americans. Christie had a 23 percent total favorable rating and Bush had a 31 percent favorable rating.