Is Former President Bill Clinton More of an Asset or a Liability to Senator Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign?

Former President Bill Clinton has received a lot of criticism during the primary election campaign and many people see him as more of a liability than an asset to his wife’s bid for the White House. A new Harris Poll produces somewhat contradictory responses which leave the question still open. More people (46%) see him as a liability than see him as an asset (37%). However, a 49 percent to 40 percent plurality thinks that he helps his wife’s campaign more than he harms it.

These are some of the findings of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,529 U.S. adults surveyed online between April 7 and 15, 2008 by Harris Interactive^®.

Not surprisingly, President Clinton is perceived much more favorably by Democrats as two-thirds (66%) of Democrats believe he helps his wife’s campaign compared to 46 percent of Independents and 30 percent of Republicans. However, his impact on Democratic voters in the primary election may be less negative or more positive than the numbers quoted here imply.

These mixed opinions of President Bill Clinton do not reflect the public’s perception of his record as president. In this poll, a 63 to 35 percent majority gives him positive ratings for the job he did when he was president. Interestingly this is almost the same as the 65 percent positive, 34 percent negative rating that he received in the final Harris Poll before he left office in January 2001 (Harris Poll #5, 1/19/01). Even three in five (62%) Independents gave him positive ratings for his time in office.

When looking at spouses overall, this survey also suggests that neither Michelle Obama nor Cindy McCain is having a big impact on the election. On balance, a 32 to 24 percent plurality sees Michele Obama as an asset to Barack Obama. And a 28 percent to 8 percent plurality sees Cindy McCain as an asset to her husband; however, a large number of people see her as neither an asset nor a liability (43%) or are not sure (22%).

Depending on the ultimate Democratic nominee, the spouse may end up playing a larger role than normal. If Hillary Clinton does win the nominee, Bill Clinton’s legacy may truly be tested. The question is whether that translates into votes for Senator Clinton in a general election. Ultimately, it seems that people are somewhat confused as to the strengths and weaknesses Bill Clinton brings to the campaign, and as always there are things people like about him and things people dislike.

"On another subject, looking at the list of spouses of the presidential candidates, please indicate whether you think they are an asset or a liability to their spouse."

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

"How would you rate the overall job former President Bill Clinton did as president?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

"Bill Clinton has campaigned vigorously for Senator Hillary Clinton as she campaigns for president. Do you think he helps or hurts his wife’s campaign?"

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

This Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between April 7 and 15, 2008, among 2,529 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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