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Honesty and trustworthiness are the keywords that make the difference between Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush in two polls conducted by CNN/ORC and Washington Post/ABC News.
According to the two new polls conducted telephonically, Hillary Clinton is reaching the lowest percent in favorable rating that she hasn’t met since 2008. CNN/ORC places the former first lady at 46 percent, while the ABC News-Washington Post at 45 percent.
How did it come to happen? Due to the two keywords, honesty and trustworthiness. If we look at the Post-ABC poll, 41 percent of interviewees are of the opinion that Mrs. Clinton meets both characteristics.
In March, the same type of polling indicated that 46 percent of the interviewees thought the same. A clear decline, with 52 percent of U.S. citizens now pointing the finger and thinking Hillary Clinton is clearly not honest.
She is however empathic. Understands people and their needs. Republicans would beg to differ, but that is a point to be reached later.
Therefore, when asked if Hillary Clinton is a trustworthy person, 46 to 49 percent of the people answered affirmatively. Still solid ground, if not as solid as it used to be. The difference in percentage is due to data from both polls.
The trustworthiness push in polls comes on the background of GOP members and Jeb Bush in particular rating quite below the usual numbers.
40 to 45 percent of the respondents believe Jeb Bush is an honest and trustworthy candidate. Yet, 55 to 35 percent declared that Jeb Bush lacks empathy and is unable to understand the problems of normal people.
Related to the matter, a 20 point gap in empathy related answers is a large problem for the GOP not yet declared candidate in the 2016 presidential run.
The presented results might be reminding the public of a similar situation back in 2012. In the presidential run of 2012, Barack Obama was leading Mitt Romney with a margin of three percentage points. Only that when it came to the question of empathy, President Obama led by 8 percent.
Perhaps the lesson learned approach will be picked up by campaigners and we will witness Mrs. Clinton play the empathy card increasingly.
As at this moment, overall, Hillary Clinton fares less well than Jeb Bush. While still in the lead, the Democratic former secretary of state only leads the polls with 47 to 44 percent, as opposed to 53 to 41 percent only two months previously.
As far as issues are concerned, Republican Jeb Bush is facing quite a number with the home base that is weakening. The Republican forerunner has 11 support points already lost for nomination among GOP members and GOP leaning independents.
The new polls indicate that he reached a historical low of 10 percent. Mr. Bush is settling on sharing the spot with contenders Paul Rand, Scott Walker, Mark Rubio. Still lagging behind are Mike Huckabee, Ted Cruz, as well as Ben Carson.
Image Source: independent.co.uk
