Hillary Clinton: Historically High Negatives Entering the Convention

We went back and looked at the data from past NBCWSJ surveys and charted each nominee’s Feeling Thermometer (positive/negative) for the survey immediately before and after the Democratic convention. Hillary Clinton has by far the highest negatives of any Democratic nominee before the convention (34{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} positive / 56{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} negative).

Incidentally, the one nominee who came closest to her negatives among Democrats is her husband, Bill Clinton, in 1992. However, Bill Clinton had one of the most successful conventions in the modern era. He turned a -8{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} Feeling Thermometer (30{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} positive / 38{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} negative) into a +18{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} (46{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} positive / 28{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} negative) among registered voters. He also gained a net 29 points with Democratic voters after the convention to start the general election campaign with a 68{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} positive / 11{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} negative rating among Democrats.

We will be closely monitoring Hillary Clinton’s Feeling Thermometer rating after the convention and will provide an update to see if she can do the totally unexpected and come even close to repeating her husband’s turnaround. Don’t hold your breath!

Democratic Candidate Feeling Thermometers Before the Convention

HRC Negative 1

Democratic Candidate Feeling Thermometers Among Total Voters

HRC Negative 2

Democratic Candidate Feeling Thermometers Among Democratic Voters

HRC Negative 3

Public Opinion Strategies