December 05, 2012 08:47 PM UTC

Hillary in 2016? Early Numbers are Favorable

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• by: Colorado Pols

From our friends at “The Fix:

Public impressions of Hillary Clinton are at an all-time high, with a large majority of Americans giving her positive reviews as the country’s secretary of state and most wanting her to be a presidential candidate in 2016, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Overall, 57 percent of all Americans say they would back a Clinton candidacy, with support peaking among younger women…

…At 66 percent favorable, Clinton is as high as she has ever been in terms of public perceptions. She was about as well regarded earlier this year, with the numbers topping her most popular periods of the late 1990s. The new data represent a clear turnaround from April 2008, when her just 44 percent of Americans expressed favorable opinions, a low-point from that campaign.

Clinton doesn’t do nearly as well among Republicans, as you would expect, but that’s not the hurdle that a potential candidacy would deal with at a later time. If it looks like Clinton would be an overwhelming favorite for the Democratic nomination, it’s hard to see how she would not make another bid.