Being Related To A Famous Politician May Not Necessarily Help

YouGov
July 24, 2013, 4:53 PM GMT+0

(Week of 7/20/2013) Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter Liz has announced a challenge to Wyoming’s incumbent Senator Mike Enzi. Hillary Clinton remains at the top of the list of Democratic candidates to succeed Barack Obama as President. In the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, Americans are about as likely to say that they take attitudes about a candidate’s spouse or parent into consideration when they evaluate a candidate as say they do not. Those feelings can be either positive or negative.

Since her husband left the Presidency, Hillary Clinton has served as both a United States Senator and as the Secretary of State, and she finished second to Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Nearly all Americans have some opinion about her: in this week’s poll, 49% are favorable towards Clinton, 45% are not.

In contrast, Liz Cheney does not have that history, and her father is not popular. Nationally, only 31% of Americans have a favorable view of the former Vice President, and 53% are unfavorable. Even 28% of Republicans nationally are unfavorable towards Cheney.

There is a sense that having a famous political relative can give a candidate an unfair advantage. Although Cheney is trailing in the early polls in Wyoming, nationally 45% say being related to a famous politician gives someone an unfair advantage; a third disagree.

Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here

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