Newsweek ignored own poll to suggest Clinton is unelectable

The online version of the December 25 Newsweek cover story, titled "Is America Ready for Hillary or Obama?" questioned Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) electability using a WNBC/Marist poll conducted November 27 through December 3. The article reported that the poll "showed that 47 percent of respondents nationwide 'definitely will not consider' voting for her, a percentage that alarms some former aides to President Clinton. Those numbers will need to change for Democratic primary voters -- now comfortable with assessing electability -- to move her way." But Newsweek ignored its own, more recent poll, conducted December 6-7, despite including it in a press release promoting the article. That poll showed Clinton outpolling three prominent potential Republican nominees: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) 50 percent to 43 percent, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) 48 percent to 47 percent, and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) 58 percent to 32 percent.

From the December 25 Newsweek cover story:

It's hard to assess the strength of anti-Hillary sentiment in the country. Her advisers point to her huge re-election victory in New York, where she crushed her Palookaville opponent among independents and even scored well with Republicans, sweeping all but four counties. The national polls sponsored by "Hillaryland" (as her universe is known) are similarly encouraging. But the gap between what voters say they would do and how they think their neighbors would react raises suspicions. "It makes me think these polls are phony as hell," says former representative Pat Schroeder, who abandoned a possible presidential campaign in 1988. "There's a hard core out there who won't vote for a woman."

Or perhaps just not for Hillary. A recent Marist Poll showed that 47 percent of respondents nationwide "definitely will not consider" voting for her, a percentage that alarms some former aides to President Clinton. Those numbers will need to change for Democratic primary voters -- now comfortable with assessing electability -- to move her way.

—B.J.L.