A new poll has revealed a secret weapon for Hillary Rodham Clinton to win the White House — Vice President Joe Biden.
The latest YouGov.com surveys find that Clinton is already doing well among black and Hispanics, but whites, especially those who haven’t attended college, have a highly unfavorable opinion of the former secretary of State.
And the answer is Biden, and also President Obama, campaigning for her, as they plan to this week.
In two polls, Clinton’s unpopularity among whites was displayed. In one, YouGov said that only 38 percent of whites approve of Obama, but of those, Clinton captures only 76 percent. Thus, said the analysis, Obama could be a boost in white states like Wisconsin.
But it could be a mixed bag. YouGov said, “Of course, many of these pro-Obama white voters may not even be transferable to Clinton. In 2012 most voters saw Obama as someone who cares about people like them. The same cannot be said at this point for Hillary Clinton (or Donald Trump). Even if Obama can convince voters Clinton really would be a third Obama term,’ and that that would be a good thing, it will be a different race than 2012 – when Obama’s opponent was Mitt Romney, who opposed the auto bailout – or 2008 – when Obama could offer voters of all stripes the ‘change’ they hungered for. Conversely, it’s possible Obama’s presence in certain areas would actually turn away more potential Clinton voters than he brings in.”
In a second analysis, Biden tops Obama and Clinton in approval from non-college educated whites, a group Clinton struggles with.
Among non-college educated whites, Biden has a 42 percent approval rating, Obama 33 percent, while Clinton’s is just 29 percent. Trump’s is 57 percent.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
