Why is Hillary Clinton so popular?

[Oregreen]

Why is Hillary Clinton so popular and beloved among many Democrats? Is it the fact that she is a woman? Or that she was First Lady? The primaries and caucuses haven't even begun and some Democrats are already fantasizing about how big Hillary will win and whether she can win all states. I just don't get what exactly makes her so popular. I hope you can enlighten me.

[Brewer]

She's an inspirational figure and our best shot at winning the White House in 2016, and most if not all of her views align and resonate with a majority of the party.

[HillaryLandslide2016]

[HillaryLandslide2016]

That picture is almost as big as Hillary's chances of winning 50 states.

Thank you

[IceSpear]

She was already preferred by half of the party in 2008. The other half now likes her for being a good SoS and a team player. She's a woman in a party that thinks it's long past due that a woman should be president. She's the wife of an extremely popular former president. She was widely approved of and praised for her tenure as SoS, even by Republicans before they got terrified of her running again and drummed up "Benghazi!!1111!!11!!1". Aside from her hawkish streak on foreign policy, her policy views fit the party as a whole. She's one of the most experienced candidates to run in decades. She also polls far better than everyone else, which makes people want her for electability reasons as well.

[Mehmentum]

She was already preferred by half of the party in 2008. The other half now likes her for being a good SoS and a team player. She's a woman in a party that thinks it's long past due that a woman should be president. She's the wife of an extremely popular former president. She was widely approved of and praised for her tenure as SoS, even by Republicans before they got terrified of her running again and drummed up "Benghazi!!1111!!11!!1". Aside from her hawkish streak on foreign policy, her policy views fit the party as a whole. She's one of the most experienced candidates to run in decades. She also polls far better than everyone else, which makes people want her for electability reasons as well.

[Free Bird]

Because she is their only ing shot at keeping the White House

[retromike22]

Because she is their only ing shot at keeping the White House

Jim Webb?

lol

[Boston Bread]

-high name recognition
-Bill is still popular
-hasn't recently been dragged through the political mess of Congress
-Benghazi only matters to people who would never approve of her

Still only good for a 50-50 approval rating, but amazing compared to virtually every other well known American politician currently in office.

[Boston Bread]

Jim Webb would do ok in a general election (so long as youth/minority turnout didn't crater), but he would not win the primary even if Clinton stepped down because nobody knows about him and has little appeal to the largest democratic constituenties.  

[Maxwell]

Being Secretary of State does quite a bit to recover one's image, as does a competitive Presidential primary that showed she was up to the rigors of campaigning and showed she was a respectful opponent.

Being Bill's wife is good too, but those two are why she's held on for so long. Otherwise I think she'd be wasting away as New York's Senator.

[Mr. Morden]

IMHO, plenty of other Democrats would have about as good a chance as Clinton in the 2016 GE, if they were to win the nomination.  But the others don't currently have her name recognition, so they're not going to show up as being all that strong in polls taken right now.  (And of course, she'll probably be the nominee, so this proposotion won't be tested.)

[IceSpear]

IMHO, plenty of other Democrats would have about as good a chance as Clinton in the 2016 GE, if they were to win the nomination.  But the others don't currently have her name recognition, so they're not going to show up as being all that strong in polls taken right now.  (And of course, she'll probably be the nominee, so this proposotion won't be tested.)

Name recognition is certainly a factor, but it's not the end all be all. Hillary still leads Republicans who have high name recognition. Conversely, when low name recognition Ds are tested against low name recognition Rs, the R still tends to have an advantage.

Also, Biden's name recognition is as high as Hillary's, and he tends to do markedly worse than Hillary in polls. Ex:

[Mr. Morden]

IMHO, plenty of other Democrats would have about as good a chance as Clinton in the 2016 GE, if they were to win the nomination.  But the others don't currently have her name recognition, so they're not going to show up as being all that strong in polls taken right now.  (And of course, she'll probably be the nominee, so this proposotion won't be tested.)

Name recognition is certainly a factor, but it's not the end all be all. Hillary still leads Republicans who have high name recognition. Conversely, when low name recognition Ds are tested against low name recognition Rs, the R still tends to have an advantage.

Also, Biden's name recognition is as high as Hillary's, and he tends to do markedly worse than Hillary in polls. Ex:

Biden's gaffe-itis and image as a buffoon is a terminal drag on his electoral chances.  But if, say, Gillibrand or Klobuchar had the name recognition that Clinton has, I think they'd do about as well as she does in head-to-head matchups against the GOP candidates.

[Xing]

Name recognition and experience (first lady, U.S. Senator, Secretary of State...) help, as people have said. The fact that she has the solid support of the Democratic establishment doesn't hurt, either. Whether or not she can retain her popularity throughout the next year and a half, as Republicans will no doubt sling a lot of mud her way, is a different matter entirely.

[Ebowed]

She is the 'anointed one.'  She is the best shot we have.

[⛄]

There are three main reasons:

She won the 2008 primary season, but nevertheless Obama got the nomination; that said, the majority of Democrats, especially in Dixieland, have been yearning after Clinton for six years. (Like conservatives had been yearning for McCain for decades.) Plus she has an extremely high name recognition due to her marriage to a very popular ex-president.

Secondly, Clinton is probably the most experienced politician ever to become president. With her experience as First Lady (twice), Senator and Secretary of State, she can exert much influence and knowledge both into the White House and into her campaign.

And yes, she's a woman.

[Mister Mets]

Hillary won't be the most experienced politician to ever become President. James Polk was Speaker of the House and Governor of Tennessee. Thomas Jefferson was Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State and Vice President. She would be in the top ten, but I don't think that's the factor. Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo and Rahm Emanuel have similar claims to tremendous experience.

Several factors have come together.

She's very closely tied to a popular former President.

She would represent a milestone the public wants (first female President.)

She ran against Obama in the primary, which pleases his critics. She served his administration and campaigned for him hard in '08, which pleases his supporters.

She is a relatively gifted politician in her own right, in addition to everything else. And she's had years of practice on the national stage.

[ilikeverin]

Because she's not officially running for office yet.  Once she starts acting in both word and deed as a candidate, people will start thinking of her as "Candidate Hillary" rather than "Secretary Hillary", and her popularity will correspondingly go down (particularly any crossover appeal she has now).

[The_Doctor]

She was already preferred by half of the party in 2008. The other half now likes her for being a good SoS and a team player. She's a woman in a party that thinks it's long past due that a woman should be president. She's the wife of an extremely popular former president. She was widely approved of and praised for her tenure as SoS, even by Republicans before they got terrified of her running again and drummed up "Benghazi!!1111!!11!!1". Aside from her hawkish streak on foreign policy, her policy views fit the party as a whole. She's one of the most experienced candidates to run in decades. She also polls far better than everyone else, which makes people want her for electability reasons as well.

This. I would add that the primaries made her the most well known contender for the Presidential nomination - and when you add everything else IceSpear said, the numbers make sense.

[Mister Mets]

Clinton has lucked into a few sweet spots.

Her stint as Secretary of State means that if Obama's popular she can run as a member of his administration. But it also means she's not tied to his domestic agenda if he's unpopular.

Those who think Obama wasn't ready to be President see her as having a better understanding of Washington. Those who like what Obama's done see someone who can protect his legacy, and build on his accomplishments.

Hillary won't be the most experienced politician to ever become President. James Polk was Speaker of the House and Governor of Tennessee. Thomas Jefferson was Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State and Vice President. She would be in the top ten, but I don't think that's the factor. Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo and Rahm Emanuel have similar claims to tremendous experience.

James Buchanan and Martin Van Buren both had much more experience than she does.

I've mentioned this before but it's interesting to compare experience with comptence.

Abraham Lincoln is one of the least experienced Presidents ever, as an unremarkable state legislator and former one-term congressman.

Buchanan was a Secretary of State with a more impressive congressional career than Clinton. And he was an awful President.

We've also had bad Presidents who were inexperienced (you could include George W Bush in this category given Texas's Weak Governor system) and great Presidents who were experienced.

[IceSpear]

Because she's not officially running for office yet.  Once she starts acting in both word and deed as a candidate, people will start thinking of her as "Candidate Hillary" rather than "Secretary Hillary", and her popularity will correspondingly go down (particularly any crossover appeal she has now).

That's already happened. Her favorability ratings haven't been sky high for quite a while now.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Because her last name is Clinton.

Unless you were living under a rock in the 90s, you knew who both of the Clintons were. Most Americans couldn't tell you what they liked or disliked about Bill Clinton (or any other President for that matter), besides maybe "I liked him on the economy and didn't like how he had a zipper problem."  But they at least know who the Clintons are, which is more than what you can say about most politicians.

Having some basic familiarity=more positive ratings.

[HillaryLandslide2016]

Because she's not officially running for office yet.  Once she starts acting in both word and deed as a candidate, people will start thinking of her as "Candidate Hillary" rather than "Secretary Hillary", and her popularity will correspondingly go down (particularly any crossover appeal she has now).

That's already happened. Her favorability ratings haven't been sky high for quite a while now.

Umm, how do you know? She is still the heavy favourite in the Primaries. But of course I don't consider her favorability ratting dropping from 70 to 69% bad news LOL.

Because her last name is Clinton.

Unless you were living under a rock in the 90s, you knew who both of the Clintons were. Most Americans couldn't tell you what they liked or disliked about Bill Clinton (or any other President for that matter), besides maybe "I liked him on the economy and didn't like how he had a zipper problem."  But they at least know who the Clintons are, which is more than what you can say about most politicians.

Having some basic familiarity=more positive ratings.

It's more than that. She is a woman, First Lady, hard-working, a great senator, a great representative, a moderate from the South, Bill's wife, popular, she unites the party and will crush her Republican opponents.

[IceSpear]

Because she's not officially running for office yet.  Once she starts acting in both word and deed as a candidate, people will start thinking of her as "Candidate Hillary" rather than "Secretary Hillary", and her popularity will correspondingly go down (particularly any crossover appeal she has now).

That's already happened. Her favorability ratings haven't been sky high for quite a while now.

Umm, how do you know? She is still the heavy favourite in the Primaries. But of course I don't consider her favorability ratting dropping from 70 to 69% bad news LOL.

I'm talking about her favorability among the entire electorate.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=203854.0
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/hillary-clinton-favorable-rating

But yes, her favorability among Democrats is still >90%, which is why she's a lock in the primary.