Could Endorsing Clinton Hurt Down-Ticket Democrats? Polling Says Yes.

"Playful lemmings jumping off a cliff at a beach party" (art print available here; click to enlarge)

by Gaius Publius

Is it possible that Clinton-endorsing superdelegates and other Democrats could be hurt in the general election by that endorsement? Current polling seems to suggest as much. From the Wall Street Journal (subscription or login required):

Hillary Clinton’s Negatives Complicate Ties Down the Ballot
Polling suggests a risk for Democratic candidates who endorse the presumptive nominee

... An offshoot of Mrs. Clinton’s low favorability rating is that candidates who tie themselves to her risk alienating voters they need to win, polling shows.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey last month asked whether people would be more inclined to vote for a Democratic candidate who endorsed Mrs. Clinton’s presidential bid. Some 32% said they would be less likely to vote for that candidate, while only 15% said they would be more inclined. More than half said the endorsement wouldn’t matter either way.

In a dozen battleground states—including North Carolina—voters by a 13-point margin would be less inclined to vote for candidates who endorse Mrs. Clinton, the Journal/NBC poll showed. Among independent voters, just 4% said they would be more apt to vote for candidates who support Mrs. Clinton, while 38% would be less inclined. ...

To put that plainly, according to the article the polling question was: Would you be "more inclined to vote for a Democratic candidate who endorsed Mrs. Clinton’s presidential bid?"

Among voters in general: 

• Yes: 15%
• No: 32%

 Among independent voters:

• Yes: 4%
• No: 38%

Let that sink in. There are more "independent" voters than registered Democrats, and there are a lot of Clinton-endorsing super-delegates, with many up for election.

I'll bet Sherrod "I trust Clinton on trade" Brown is glad he's not up this year. (He is up in 2018 though, just in time for his 2016 "I trust Clinton on trade" comment to look just as good as Clinton's 2003 "I trust Bush to want peace" comment as she cast her critical pro-war Iraq vote.)

I really do feel for the lock-step Democratic Party. They may be going down hard. It may not be pretty, but apparently no one can stop them, like no one can stop the meth-addled kid from burning out the lab with his stoned self inside. Unlike the lemmings at the top of this piece, I don't think there's a party (or a Party) at the base of the cliff when our Democratic lemmings hit the surface of the sea and start heading under. Domage.

GP