For months, rival campaigns and analysts -- most notably, Karl Rove -- have pointed to Hillary Clinton's relatively high negative opposition ratings as a key vulnerability. That criticism may now be moot. The latest Rasmussen data shows that Hillary's core opposition ratings have stayed stable while opposition to the rest of the '08 field has risen to match her:
Early in Election 2008, Rasmussen Reports polling found that only Hillary Clinton and Newt Gingrich had more than 40% of voters committed to voting against them. By August, Gingrich was no longer a serious candidate. Only Mitt Romney and Clinton could count more than 40% of all voters in their core opposition.
Now, however, while Clinton's negatives have been remaining largely stable all year, the rest of the candidates are catching up. More than 40% of voters are committed to voting against five of the seven leading candidates. The only exceptions, John McCain and Fred Thompson, have 39% ready to vote against them on the 2008 ballot.