Poll: Hillary’s book not helping her

June 12, 2003

While Hillary Clinton has been the talk of America this week, new national polls are revealing at least two things: Most Americans think the senator is not being truthful in her new book, “Living History,” and the Democrat may actually be hurt in the public’s view in the wake of its publication.

A survey released this morning by Gallup finds a majority of Americans don’t go along with Mrs. Clinton’s account that she did not believe her husband was having an affair with Monica Lewinsky until he disclosed it to her some eight months after it was first reported.

Only 35 percent say she is telling the truth, and 56 percent believe she’s not.

‘Living History’ more like ‘Lying History’?

And a Quinnipiac University poll indicates almost one in five people – 18 percent – think less favorably of the Democrat because of the book, with only eight percent holding a more favorable view.

While three out of four Americans say they’ve read or heard about “Living History,” 67 percent say it makes no difference in their opinion of Hillary.

“Americans to Sen. Clinton: We’re talking about your book, but it doesn’t much change how we think of you,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the polling institute at Quinnipiac in Hamden, Conn.

The poll shows little difference in the attitudes of men and women on the subject, but among members of her own party, nine percent of Democrats think less favorably of Hillary. The figure was 27 percent among Republicans.

On a positive note for the senator, Mrs. Clinton finishes far ahead of other Democrats if she were to enter the 2004 race for the presidency. Though she’s asserted often she will not jump into the campaign, 40 percent say they’d like to see Hillary get the Democratic nomination, compared to just 16 percent for Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman and 10 percent for Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt.

As WorldNetDaily reported last week, a previous poll of registered voters in her home state revealed most New Yorkers hoping Hillary never make a bid for the White House.

That survey by Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., found 58 percent of registered New York state voters don’t want Hillary to run for the nation’s highest office – not in 2004 nor anytime in the future.

In addition, a poll yesterday by America Online finds two out of three AOL members saying they won’t be reading “Living History.”

As of 11:45 p.m. Eastern Time last night, over 2.1 million people took part in the unscientific survey which asked: “Will you read Hillary Clinton’s memoirs?”

The results are as follows:

Absolutely: 11% – 249,812 votes
Maybe: 21% – 475,786 votes
No way: 66% – 1,460,706 votes

Comments on a related messageboard were filled both flattering and ferocious opinions:

Mrs. Clinton is a beautiful, warm, caring and loving person! She should be our president of the United States! (FrancesC)
She can tell the lousy finger-pointing, taxpayer-dollar-wasting, hypocritical Republican slobs to shove it where the sun don’t shine! Hillary for President in ’08! (AMRunnerNpls)
Book sales are lies. All you have to do is look at the polls in AOL to see that only 10% of the public will even want to read the book, let alone buy the book. And, AOL is a liberal online service. Let’s get real. (Lionsroom)
She’s delusional. I was interested to read the book until I watched her very scripted and less-than-forthcoming (I’d say deceptive) interviews with both Larry King and Katie Couric. She plays it coy when it suits her, and strong and arrogant moments later when she feels wronged. I’m disappointed. Laura Bush has so much more class and strength. (MJHOLCOMB6)

Meanwhile, the Quinnipiac poll shows good news for President Bush in his hunt for re-election, ranking him ahead of all Democratic challengers.

If Bush were to face either Clinton or Lieberman, he leads 53-40 percent, and widens his lead slightly against either Gephardt or Kerry.

”Write a book, give a speech, campaign relentlessly in Iowa and New Hampshire – it doesn’t seem to make any difference,” said Carroll. ”President Bush easily beats the new author [Hillary] and the big-three declared Democratic candidates.”

But worries about the economy have deflated Bush’s overall approval rating to 57 percent, down from 73 percent in an April 16 Quinnipiac poll. By a 61-32 percent margin, American voters are more concerned about the economy than about terrorist attacks in the U.S.

“‘Like father, like son,’ must be a phrase they hate to hear in the White House,” Carroll said. “Bush scores in the stratosphere on the fight against bad guys abroad and at home. But like his father after Gulf War I, his numbers on the economy are low.”