A new poll suggests the public is increasingly uneasy about the idea of former President Bill Clinton back in the White House — and that independent voters are more-and-more turned-off by the idea.
If you look at the large increase in Republicans who now don’t want Bill Clinton back in the White House it’s clear that, if Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination, the Bill Clinton issue could actually be an issue raised and played out in the campaign. The New York Times‘ lively blog The Caucus reports:
Forty one percent of registered voters told the latest Pew Research Center survey that they disliked the idea of Mr. Clinton back at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which could happen if his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, is elected president. In October, 34 percent of voters disliked the idea.
The latest survey was conducted between Jan. 30 and Feb. 2, after a couple of weeks of heightened media attention to Mr. Clinton’s increasingly dominant and visible role in his wife’s campaign. Pew surveyed 1,502 adults and the margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
The poll found that independent voters have become more uncomfortable with the idea. In October, just 35 percent of independents disliked the idea; now, 45 percent dislike it.
Recent elections have been decided by independent “swing” voters. MORE:
Democrats seem to be generally comfortable with bringing Mr. Clinton back. In October, only 10 percent disliked the idea of him back in the White House, and even after his bad week only 12 percent object now. In October 68 percent of Democrats said they actually liked the idea and that number has not changed. So he may still be an asset to his wife, at least in the upcoming Democratic primaries.
This explains the defense of Mr. Clinton by many Democrats who rationalize some of his recent comments the same way Republicans have rationalized some of the statements of and tactics used by Bush administration officials and GOPers over the years.
But here is the kicker:
In a general election, however, the prospect of Mr. Clinton back in the White House would be a bigger burden for her to carry. Republicans never liked the idea. In October, 66 percent said they disliked it; now 80 percent dislike it.
If the numbers show independent voters souring on the idea of four (or eight) more years of Mr. Clinton in the White House after his recent campaign blitz, and you have Republicans whoppingly opposed to him being in the White House, the Clinton campaign will have to have a game-plan ready in advance to deal definitively with this issue.
It can’t win an election just getting the vote of loyal Democrats. It will need to win a substantial chunk of independent voters, plus peel-off some disgruntled Republicans. Arizona Senator John McCain, who at this writing seems to be the Republican front-runner, is still popular with independent voters.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.