As we await the official rollout of Donald Trump's Vice Presidential pick (postponed by the terrorist attack in Nice, France), let's take a gander at two new national polls -- one of which
NYT/CBS polling trend: Trump ~static, Hillary dropping pic.twitter.com/xOT5TupZDa
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 14, 2016
While Clinton was not indicted for matters relating to her use of a private email account and server for her work as Secretary of State, she was harshly criticized by the FBI director, and her standing on some key candidate qualities has taken a bit of a hit. Sixty-seven percent of voters now say Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, up from 62 percent last month and the highest percentage this election cycle. Only 28 percent view her as honest. Clinton's ratings on honesty were more positive soon after she announced her presidential bid in April of last year. Also, fewer now say she is prepared for the job of president than did so last month - although half still say she is.
Her trustworthiness rating is now a whopping 39 points underwater, and her personal favorability rating (28/54) has dipped slightly below Trump's (30/54). The "good" news for her, per CBS News' write-up, is that Trump isn't directly benefiting from her slide. "Views of Trump have not improved on these measures and remain mostly negative," the piece says. "Sixty-two percent of voters don't think he's honest (compared to Clinton's 67 percent), and two-thirds continue to say Trump is not prepared for the job of president." Roughly seven in ten voters believe Hillary's email misconduct was at least improper, with a large plurality saying she broke the law -- including a majority of independent voters. Fewer than a quarter of respondents say she did nothing wrong, almost all of whom were Democrats. Multiple national polls show that most Americans disagree with the Justice Department's decision not to pursue a criminal prosecution in the matter. So here we are, as usual, left with two profoundly flawed and disliked candidates whose nominations should be formalized by the end of the month. An Associated Press poll throws Clinton and Trump's abiding unpopularity into stark relief. This is among undecideds:
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AP national survey: Without pushing leaners, BOTH Hillary and Trump are polling in the 20's! pic.twitter.com/2QVy07ri6J
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 14, 2016
The option that might as well be "anyone else" is nipping at their heels, at 23 percent. Even when the pollster prods leaners to pick a side, Hillary barely grazes 40 percent, with Trump dragging slightly behind in the mid-30's. Their overall standing, including decided voters, is an abysmal 34-30 Clinton edge. Suffice it to say that a great many voters are not pleased with their choices this year. Meanwhile, here's some welcome news for Republicans who, unlike Trump, are desperate to hold the Senate, via Quinnipiac:
Mitch McConnell has a lot to smile about today.
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) July 14, 2016
Big Q-poll leads for RUBIO +12/13, PORTMAN +7, TOOMEY +10https://t.co/D9hOm6wTxQ
All three GOP incumbents are running substantially ahead of Trump in their home states, Rubio (who is officially not attending the RNC, incidentally) in particular. They may end up needing every last one of those ticket-splitters. I'll leave you with a friendly reminder of exactly how awkward and inept Hillary Clinton is relating to fellow humans. Booo:
Here's video of @HillaryClinton talking about Pokemon Go pic.twitter.com/LxEpgrxXaO
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) July 14, 2016
UPDATE - Just-breaking NBC/WSJ battleground polls show Hillary's unfavorability hovering around 60 percent, but Trump's approval numbers are worse. She leads him across the board:
And one more data point for you:
AP poll: 56 percent believe Hillary broke the law in email scandal. Just 6 percent say she did nothing wrong. pic.twitter.com/XKUhNbbPJZ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) July 15, 2016
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