A new poll shows President Barack Obama stands in the shadow of former President Bill Clinton as Americans increasingly approve of our 42nd president and the 44th president continues to struggle in his second term.
Rasmussen Reports released a poll of likely voters on Friday which finds 62 percent think Clinton did a better job as president than Obama. Only 20 percent think Obama is a better president than Clinton while 18 percent are undecided.
Independents and Republicans heavily break in favor of Clinton. More than two thirds -- 70 percent of independents and 69 percent of Republicans -- think Clinton is a better president. Obama does better with Democrats but Clinton still bests him. Almost half -- 49 percent -- of Democrats say Clinton was a better president while 37 percent think Obama is doing better in the White House.
Clintons stock is rising with the American people as time passes -- and perhaps he gets a boost when he is compared to Obama and former President George W. Bush. More than a quarter of those surveyed -- 27 percent -- have a higher opinion of Clinton now than when he was president, while only 11 percent have a lower opinion of him.
The poll finds Clinton stands in good stead with the American public, with 58 percent seeing him as favorable and 40 percent as unfavorable. More than a quarter of those surveyed -- 28 percent -- think Clinton is one of the greatest presidents in American history, while 11 percent think he is one of the worst. More than half of those surveyed -- 58 percent -- place him in the middle.
The poll did find something of a racial divide on the matter. African-American voters overwhelmingly approve of both Clinton and Obama, but only 27 percent of them think Clinton was a better president than Obama. More than two thirds -- 68 percent -- of white voters think Clinton did a better job in the White House than Obama has.
With former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expected to run for the presidency again in 2016, 41 percent think her husband will help her chances while 20 percent think he will undermine her bid.
The poll of 1,000 likely voters was taken from Nov. 13-14 and had a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com.
