By Andrew Kohut
It is increasingly clear that Hillary Clinton will have to overcome a number of serious voter concerns about her to win the presidency. These challenges have been complicated by the unprecedented position in modern times of not having a real challenger from within her own party.
Though the latest polls continue to show her leading the modest field of announced and potential Democratic candidates, they also show significant declines in her favorability rating and concerns about her honesty and trustworthiness. One of the most troubling findings for her in recent national surveys is that while she leads most Republican candidates in head-to-head match-ups, she runs about even with Sen. Rand Paul and is not that far ahead of several others.
Her strategic problem is that, absent a strong Democratic challenger to duke it out with, questions about various Hillary controversies, her age and the “Bill factor” will hang there to be resolved in the general election against a Republican candidate who has been on the road addressing his or her own image weaknesses.
