Are Men Souring On Hillary Clinton?

Surveys find male opinion dimmer, though not necessarily among Democrats.

The summer of 2015 wasn't particularly kind to Hillary Clinton, who saw the share of Americans who view her negatively expand to a majority as her once-formidable primary lead fell to a modest advantage.

Gallup surveys show her image falling particularly among men, as the pollster's analysts recently noted.

Gallup

Women's views have remained about the same, according to Gallup.

Gallup

At least one other survey house has found the same trend. Quinnipiac's most recent poll shows Clinton's favorability rating down 3 points with women and 10 points with men, compared to the beginning of July.

YouGov's most recent poll, by contrast, finds the presidential candidate down 5 points with women and just 1 point with men since early July. Surveys of the Democratic primary have also produced mixed evidence on the extent of a gender gap, with several polls showing her losing ground among her party's female voters.

As Gallup's Andrew Dugan noted, the men who are souring on Clinton are relatively unlikely to be casting a vote in the Democratic primary. Men overall are less likely than women to identify as Democrats.

"Of course, Clinton's main aim at the moment is winning the Democratic nomination, so it may seem premature to scrutinize her favorable rating among national adults," he wrote. "The good news for Clinton is that among women who identify as Democrats or as Democratic-leaning, Clinton's image remains in very good shape."

Gallup's most recent survey did show a notable downturn in Democratic males' opinions of Clinton, with 64 percent rating her favorably now versus more than 70 percent earlier in the year. Whether that represents a temporary dip or a lasting change is not yet clear.

What polling does make clear is that the decline in Clinton's ratings, ongoing since she jumped back into the political fray, has accelerated dramatically with the start of campaign season.

Gallup's daily tracking surveys use live interviewers to reach both landlines and cell phones.

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