During an October 23 washingtonpost.com “Post Politics Hour” discussion, Washington Post White House reporter Michael Abramowitz asserted that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) is “one of the most polarizing figures in politics today.” However, Abramowitz's own paper reported in an October 4 article that while "[m]any Republicans have said that they are eager to run a general-election campaign against Hillary Clinton, describing her as a highly polarizing candidate who would unite and energize the opposition," based on a Washington Post-ABC News poll, there is no “potential Republican nominee who appears significantly less polarizing” than Clinton. The article added: “Americans currently view the top four Republican candidates in equally or even more negative terms” than they view Clinton. According to the poll, conducted September 27-30, 41 percent of respondents said they “definitely would not” vote for Clinton. By contrast, regarding Republican candidates, 44 percent said they definitely would not vote for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, 45 percent said they definitely would not vote for Sen. John McCain (AZ), 54 percent said they definitely would not vote for former Sen. Fred Thompson (TN), and 57 percent said they definitely would not vote for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3 points.

From Abramowitz's October 23 “Post Politics Hour” discussion:

Silver Spring, Md.: Do you think it helps or hurts Sen. Clinton to have the GOP candidates focus on her so much? It solidifies her position as the Democratic frontrunner, but the accumulated criticism may start negatively affect her in the national race.

Michael Abramowitz: I don't think it either hurts or helps -- it just is the way it is given her out-sized presence in American politics. She is one of the most polarizing figures in politics today, and it's hard to see that negative feelings towards her could grow even more than they are now in some quarters.