WASHINGTON (Web Desk) – Former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took a serious beating in a poll released on Tuesday because a majority of voters described her as dishonest, untrustworthy and liar, New York Post reported.
The CNN/ORC International poll showed Clinton’s numbers have plunged in almost every category over the past two months as scandals swirled over her e-mail accounts, family foundation and fat speaking fees. Her worst showing in a poll since 2001 included:
57 percent of voters say she is not honest and trustworthy, up from 49 percent in March.
Just 47 percent feel she cares about people like them, down from 53 percent last July. And 50 percent now feel she does not inspire confidence, up from 42 percent in March.
Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster, said the results shows the “significant obstacles” Clinton will have to overcome as she campaigns for the White House in the months ahead.
“It’s a yellow flag for the Clinton campaign that this is something they have to deal with,” he told New York Post.
“The goodwill and diplomatic credentials Clinton built up as secretary of state have eroded since she announced her presidential run and worsened with the drip, drip of bad news for the candidate. It poses a challenge for her,” added Newhouse, Mitt Romney’s former pollster.
“These concerns that voters have about being trustworthy — that’s something that’s she’s going to have to address. And that’s a difficult attribute to demonstrate. Rehab work is needed.”
But GOP operative and commentator Tara Setmayer wrote on CNN that, “Ultimately, no matter how hard Hillary’s campaign tries to control media access and messaging, it’s difficult to reshape opinion about the like ability factor of someone who’s been in the public eye for 25 years.
Given the multitude of platforms by which information can be dispersed to the masses, it becomes a Herculean task.”
The question of whether the former first lady and secretary of state is honest has dogged Hillary for years. But the latest poll follows the publication of Peter Schweizer’s “Clinton Cash,” a damning exposé of the Clinton Foundation’s questionable dealings with foreign governments during her stint at State as well as how she and hubby Bill have cashed in on speaking fees at home and abroad.
And the numbers are sinking despite Clinton’s fresh campaign message on championing the middle class.
“Clinton has had a difficult few months — avoiding the press doesn’t spare you from the effects of bad news and scandal,” said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Still, he said, the numbers are bound to change between now and November 2016.
Clinton will seek to turn the tide with her first big public campaign rally, on Roosevelt Island on June 13, that is expected to draw a big homecoming crowd.
Since Clinton launched her second bid for the White House in April, she’s favored small campaign stops with handpicked guests in early voting states and has limited questions from the press.
