CLINTON'S HONESTY RATING DROPS – AT 9:31 A.M. ET:  Is anyone shocked?  It's one of the results of the massive Fox News Poll reported this week, published before the latest uproar over Clinton's secret e-mails went public.  Other results involve the candidates prepping for 2016.  From Fox: 

Overall, there’s general agreement that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (+54 points), former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (+40), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (+34) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (+24) are patriotic. For comparison, those margins all beat President Barack Obama’s (+11) on this measure.

On the other hand, “strong leader” is not a trait that lots of voters see in the GOP candidates tested. More voters perceive Clinton as a strong leader (+16 points) than Walker (+11), Rubio (+7) and Bush (-1). And many more see her as a strong leader than say the same of Obama (-12).

I suspect that the Republican ratings will improve once Americans become familiar with the leading GOP candidates

More self-identified Republicans think “strong leader” describes Walker (+35 points) than Rubio (+33) and Bush (+18).

“Walker is in a nice position right now,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducts the Fox News Poll along with Republican pollster Daron Shaw. “Republicans who know him overwhelmingly think he is a strong leader, and there are very few in the base who hold negative opinions toward him.”

While Clinton performs well on leadership, she’s underwater on honesty (-8 points). Just 44 percent say the label “honest” describes her, while 52 percent disagree. A year ago, by a 54-42 percent margin, voters said Clinton was “honest and trustworthy” (April 2014).

That rating suggests recent revelations about Clinton -- especially concerning the activities of the Clinton Foundation -- may be taking a toll. Sixty-one percent of voters say if recent allegations are true and the foundation accepted contributions from foreign governments while Clinton was secretary of state -- it was the wrong thing to do.

COMMENT:  Hillary's troubles appear to be increasing dramatically.  The fact is that she's not all that popular with the leftist Democratic base.  That may be why even some liberal papers are asking some tough questions.  The New York Times, itself increasingly leftist, would probably prefer Elizabeth Warren. 

There's been much speculation, some of it informed, that Clinton will announce her candidacy in April.  If she delays, we can probably surmise that she's reconsidering.  If I had to bet, I'd bet on her eventually entering the race.  But it may look less like a presidential campaign than a fire sale.

March 6, 2015