"I believe that Hillary is bright enough and smart enough to do the job and then some, but I do not believe this nation is ready to vote for Hillary Clinton. It is too bad—but true—that her spouse's issues still spill over onto her. On Bush, I do think that his Social Security proposals are going nowhere and his attempt to take this last package on the road is dead on arrival."
"Her persona—she has become a caricature of the liberal politician, even though it is probably not deserved."
"Her persona, but that's really an excuse for she's too liberal, too Clinton, too tough for a woman, too calculating, too ambitious (all of which translates to she's a girl not a boy).
The American people demand a certain gut level connection with their president and she has not developed that with much of Middle America, particularly in the fly-over states.
This poll was sent to one hundred thirty-one "political insiders" who regularly answer questions on politics for National Journal. One hundred twenty-four responded. The names of all 131 panelists are listed below.
DEMOCRATIC INSIDERS (67): Karen Ackerman, David Axelrod, Dave Beattie, Mike Berman, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Deb Callahan, Joseph Cari Jr., Bill Carrick, Tony Coelho, Jim Craig, Jerry Crawford, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, Monica Dixon, Anita Dunn, Steve Elmendorf, Eric Eve, Vic Fazio, Scott Ferson, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Gina Glantz, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Michael Gronstal, Marcia Hale, Laura Hartigan, Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, Steve Jarding, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Celinda Lake, Jeff Link, Bill Lynch, Ellen Malcolm, Steve Marchand, Paul Maslin, Terry McAuliffe, Caroline McCarley, Gerald McEntee, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Steve Murphy, David Nassar, Tom Ochs, Tom O'Donnell, John Podesta, Bruce Reed, Steve Ricchetti, Susan Rice, Sheila McGuire Riggs, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, John Ryan, Wendy Sherman, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Mike Veon, Rick Wiener, and JoDee Winterhof.
REPUBLICAN INSIDERS (64): Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Wayne Berman, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Jeff Boeyink, Jeff Buley, Nick Calio, Jim Cicconi, Jake Corman, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Rick Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Debi Durham, Frank Fahrenkopf, Don Fierce, Alex Gage, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Lanny Griffith, Doug Gross, Steve Hart, Chris Henick, Clark Judge, David Kensinger, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris Lacivita, Jim Lake, Chuck Larson, Steve Lombardo, Mary Matalin, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Stephen Moore, Mike Murphy, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Tony Perkins, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, Dave Rehr, Steve Roberts, David Roederer, Ed Rogers, Tony Rudy, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Rick Shelby, Don Sipple, Fred Steeper, Warren Tompkins, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Dave Winston, and Ginny Wolfe.