Gallup: Clinton more popular than Obama

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By Joseph Weber

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is now more popular than President Obama among Americans, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.

The telephone poll of 1,013 Americans found Mrs. Clinton has a favorable rating of 62 percent, compared with 56 percent for Mr. Obama. The survey was conducted over the first four days of October, before the president was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mr. Obama's rating likely would have increased only slightly had the poll been conducted after he was awarded the prize Oct. 9, based on how his job-approval rating moved -- from 53 percent to 56 percent.

Mr. Obama won the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination over Mrs. Clinton. His favorable rating has dropped 22 points since taking office in January, while Mrs. Clinton's has remained roughly unchanged.

Gallup said Mrs. Clinton's favorable rating is among her highest since the group started tracking her 17 years ago.

The poll was conducted from Oct. 1 to 4, and the findings' margin of error is roughly 4 percentage points.

Mr. Obama's job-approval rating is the highest in more than two months. His lowest rating since taking office was 50 percent, last week, and 69 percent upon taking office.

The Gallup job-approval poll is conducted daily, and the favorable-rating poll is done several times a year, a company spokesman said Thursday.

Gallup said the change in the relative popularity of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama since January "may reflect the realities of their new roles."

"After nearly nine months in office in which he has made or confronted difficult decisions . . . Obama's support has declined," the group said. "Meanwhile, Clinton has helped advance Obama's foreign policy around the world (and is) now operating in a much less bright spotlight than Obama."

Democrats' opinion of Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama are roughly equal -- 91 percent for Mrs. Clinton and 89 percent for Mr. Obama.

Republicans have more positive views of Mrs. Clinton, 35 percent, than of Mr. Obama, 19 percent, according to the poll.