Subject: RE: 2016 GOP HIT on HRC
From: "Hendricks, Lauren" <[email-masked]>
To: Tony Carrk <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>, "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Brinster, Jeremy" <[email-masked]>, "Crystal, Andy" <[email-masked]>, "Dillon, Lauren" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 3 May 2016 08:26:12 -0700

Reince Priebus Tweet
5/3/16 11:23 AM
Read Here<https://twitter.com/Reince/status/727518777143762948>
Hillary Clinton's growing problem with Independents on.wsj.com/26Pb5X1<https://t.co/j9PGXheLSg>

Lauren Hendricks

From: Hendricks, Lauren
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 10:48 AM
To: [email-masked]'; [email-masked]'; [email-masked]'; [email-masked]'; [email-masked]'; [email-masked]'; [email-masked]'; [email-masked]'
Cc: Brinster, Jeremy; Crystal, Andy; Dillon, Lauren
Subject: 2016 GOP HIT on HRC

Michael C. Short Tweet
5/3/16 10:45 AM
Read Here<https://twitter.com/michaelcshort/status/727509252378497025>
WSJ: @HillaryClinton<https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/>'s Growing Problem With Independents on.wsj.com/1VIjwzJ<https://t.co/bGDADKcyda> via @rebeccaballhaus<https://twitter.com/rebeccaballhaus/>
Hillary Clinton's Growing Problem With Independents<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/05/03/hillary-clintons-growing-problem-with-independents/>
[Hillary Clinton makes remarks during a campaign event at Munster Steel in Hammond, Ind.,  last month.]ENLARGE
Hillary Clinton makes remarks during a campaign event at Munster Steel in Hammond, Ind., last month. PHOTO: JIM YOUNG/REUTERS
By
REBECCA BALLHAUS
May 3, 2016 9:42 am ET
14 COMMENTS<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/05/03/hillary-clintons-growing-problem-with-independents/#livefyre-comment>

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton faces a mounting challenge among independent voters following months of attacks from rival Bernie Sanders.

An April Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll<http://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/16229NBCWSJApril2016Poll.pdf> found that Mrs. Clinton's favorability rating among independents had dropped 15 percentage points in the last four months alone. That poll found that 20% of independents viewed Mrs. Clinton positively, compared with 62% who viewed her negatively-a gap of 42 percentage points. In January, that same poll found her with a positive rating of 35% and a negative rating of 54%-a gap of fewer than 20 percentage points.

A year earlier, four months before she launched her presidential campaign, that gap stood at just four percentage points-35% positive to 39% negative.

Mrs. Clinton's favorability ratings have also declined among Democrats. Her positive rating among Democrats dropped to 63% last month from 71% in January, while her negative rating rose six points to 20%. Last April, when she first announced she was running for president, 76% of Democrats viewed her positively while just 8% viewed her negatively.

While sinking favorability ratings are common for presidential candidates as voters learn more about them, the striking decline in independents' view of Mrs. Clinton is indicative of the unexpected popularity of Mr. Sanders, who served in the Senate as an independent before running for president as a Democrat. The Vermont senator is far more popular among independents and has ramped up his criticism of Mrs. Clinton in recent months, even as his path to winning the nomination looks increasingly narrow. Mr. Sanders in recent days began laying off hundreds of field staffers<http://www.wsj.com/articles/sanders-campaign-cuts-staff-after-losing-four-states-1461800857?tesla=y> but has said he plans to stay in the race until the July Democratic convention.

The nosedive Mrs. Clinton's rating has taken among independents suggests she has a lot of work to do to win those voters over in a general election. Her campaign has already begun fretting about the lasting damage Mr. Sanders's criticism of her could have in the general election, and has publicly encouraged the senator to rally his supporters behind her for the sake of the Democratic Party.

Already, Republican front-runner Donald Trump has begun crediting some of his attacks on Mrs. Clinton to her rival. At a rally in Indiana on Monday, the real-estate developer criticized Mrs. Clinton's "bad judgment" and thanked Mr. Sanders for similarly targeting her.

In the April poll, just 3% of Republicans viewed the former secretary of state favorably, while 91% viewed her negatively.

Mr. Trump isn't well-liked by independents, either. Just 19% of independents viewed him favorably in the latest poll, while 67% had a negative opinion. Democrats are nearly universally opposed to him, with 97% saying they had a negative view of him. And Republicans are split, 42%-42%, on whether they hold a positive or negative view of the New York businessman.

Lauren Hendricks