Personal Characteristics Loom Large in Americans' Views of Hillary Clinton

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans' positive opinions and impressions of New York Senator Hillary Clinton are based to a significant degree on views of her personality traits and character rather than on political or policy dimensions. Americans in particular admire her intelligence, the fact that she is a strong advocate for women, and that she is forthright and outspoken. The public's negative views of Clinton are roughly evenly split between her personality and policy positions, including basic disagreement with her politics and perceptions that she changes her mind too often and is wishy-washy.

Many Republicans say they have no positive impressions of Clinton and many Democrats say they have no negative impressions of her. However, beyond these differences, the basic views across party lines are similar. Men are much more likely to have negative views of Clinton than are women. Women's positive impressions of the former First Lady are built in particular on views of advocacy for women, her intelligence, and her forthrightness.

Gallup's most recent assessment of Hillary Clinton's overall image was 51% favorable and 44% unfavorable, taken from a June 23-25, 2006 USA Today/Gallup Poll. A separate Gallup Poll Panel survey conducted June 26-29, 2006 asked respondents to talk in their own words about what they "like or admire about Hillary Clinton" and also what they "dislike or don't admire about Hillary Clinton."

All in all, the public is just about as likely to be able to come up with positive views of Clinton as they are to come up with negative views. Thirty-six percent of Americans could not name anything they admire about Clinton, while 39% could not name anything they don't like about her.

There are big political differences on this dimension. Half of Republicans are unable to say anything they admire about Hillary Clinton, while 62% of Democrats are unable to say anything they dislike about her.

The Positives

An analysis of the various responses Americans' give about what they like about Hillary Clinton shows that these are much more likely to be based on perceptions of her personality and character than on political or policy dimensions.

The top categories of positive impressions of Clinton are: 1) her intelligence, 2) the fact that she is a strong advocate for women, 3) the fact that she is forthright, outspoken, and direct, 4) general agreement with her views, 5) her political career and leadership, and 6) her determination and tenacity.

Please tell me what you like or admire about Hillary Clinton.

Here are the results of the positive impressions of Hillary Clinton by party:

Among Democrats, the top five positive views of Hillary Clinton are:

1. Her intelligence
2. Her advocacy for women
3. Her forthrightness, outspokenness, and directness
4. Agreement with her views
5. Her political career and leadership

Among Republicans, the top five positive views of Hillary Clinton are:

1. Her advocacy for women
2. Her determination, tenacity, and perseverance
3. Her intelligence
4. Her forthrightness, outspokenness, and directness
5. Her commitment to and forgiveness of her husband

There are no major differences in perceptions of the positive attributes of Hillary Clinton by gender, although there is some suggestion in the data that Clinton may have an appeal to women based on the fact that she is a woman (and would, of course, be the first female president in the nation's history). Twelve percent of women mention her advocacy for women as the factor that they most admire about her, doubling the percentage of men who mention that characteristic.

The Negatives

The top two negative perceptions of Hillary Clinton are dislikes based on her political views in general, and the fact that she is perceived as being wishy-washy and wavering on the issues. These are followed by expression of a basic lack of trust in her, residues of past Clinton scandals, and the view that she is overbearing and aggressive.

Please tell me what you dislike or don't admire about Hillary Clinton.

Americans' responses about what they dislike or do not admire about Clinton also vary by partisan groups:

All but 15% of Republicans are able to name something they don't like about Hillary Clinton, with the top three categories being:

1. Political views in general
2. Wishy-washy, changes mind on issues
3. Lack of trust

Democrats are much less likely to have negative views of Hillary Clinton, but the top negatives among those who do are:

1. Wishy-washy, changes mind on issues
2. Overly aggressive, overbearing
3. Simply don't like her

Men are significantly more likely to be able to verbalize negative opinions of Clinton than are women. Seventy percent of men can mention something they don't like about Clinton, compared to 55% of women.

Survey Methods

Results for this panel study are based on telephone interviews with 1,002 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted June 26-29, 2006. Respondents were randomly drawn from Gallup's nationally representative household panel, which was originally recruited through random selection methods. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.