Why the GOP Should
Worry About Hillary Clinton's Poll Numbers
With the 2016
general election a little less than 16 months away, key polling data for
Hillary Clinton shows that her numbers look a lot like President Barack Obama's
in 2012
and could be bad
news for Republicans.
In addition to
discussing women and family issues on Monday, Mrs. Clinton is expected to
support Mr. Obama’s plans to extend overtime pay to workers and strengthen
collective bargaining. She will also emphasize policies that would help the
largely female members of the A.F.T., including pushing for paid family leave
and affordable childcare, according to aides.
A major teachers’
union on Saturday voted to make an early endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton,
a lift to her presidential campaign as she tries to fend off a
stronger-than-expected challenge from the left.
The endorsement from
the American Federation of Teachers was not a surprise. The group is led by
Randi Weingarten, a longtime ally of Mrs. Clinton, and it backed her in her
losing primary battle against Barack Obama in 2008.
But the union is
giving her its support again at an opportune moment for Mrs. Clinton, just
before her first major speech on the economy, scheduled for Monday, which is
seen as an attempt, in part, to neutralize the criticism leveled at her by her
leading challenger, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Education policy
remains one of the few areas of unsettled debate within the Democratic Party.
President Obama’s education agenda has often infuriated the teachers’ unions,
and last year, the head of the National Education Association, another union
representing teachers, called for the secretary of education, Arne Duncan, to
be fired.
Advocates of changes
to the system, including some major Democratic donors, consider Mr. Obama an
ally and have been pressuring Mrs. Clinton to adopt Mr. Obama’s posture. But in
meetings with the A.F.T. last month, Mrs. Clinton said that teachers shouldn’t
be the “scapegoat” for society’s ills.
After that meeting —
members also heard from Mr. Sanders and Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland
governor — Ms. Weingarten praised Mrs. Clinton’s performance and detailed
responses to members’ concerns.