Colin Campbell
Oct. 1, 2015

1,000 voters were asked to describe the Democratic candidates with a single word

A new Suffolk University/USA Today poll released Thursday asked 1,000 voters to describe the three main figures in the Democratic presidential race using a single word.

The results revealed how many people impulsively feel about the candidates — in positive and negative terms.

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the front-runner in the primary contest, attracted a number of terms that questioned her honesty.

Just over 13% of respondents described her as either “liar” or “dishonest,” 8.2% said “untrustworthy” or “fake,” and 5.9% said “deceitful,” “sneaky,” or “tricky,” among other critical words.

On the other hand, 7.7% said Clinton was “smart,” “intelligent,” or “knowledgeable.”

According to other surveys, Clinton’s trustworthiness took a hit after questions were used about her email use as secretary of state.

Clinton exclusively used a private email server for government work and then raised eyebrows by deleting the tens of thousands of messages her team deemed personal. The FBI is reportedly now investigating whether any classified information was mishandled in connection to the account.

Because all voters got to participate in the survey, the words used to describe the Democratic candidates were undoubtedly more critical than if only primary voters had been asked. Additionally, because Clinton is such a prominent figure, right-leaning voters could have a more cemented narrative against her than other Democratic contenders.

But Vice President Joe Biden is also a public figure — and he drew far more positive one-word descriptions. Biden, who is mulling whether or not to run, was described as “favorable” or “like” by 12.1% of voters, while 7.1% said “honest,” “honorable,” “integrity,” or “trustworthy.” (My word would be Stupid or Gaffer!  They say Joe is honorable, has integrity or is trustworthy – how can anyone say that after Joe has walked  in lock step with Obama to turn this country into a third world country – no true patriot would ever walk in lock step with this evil person.  If Joe were elected nothing would change – he would continue the same policies.)

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) was also tested in the Suffolk poll. More than 11% of voters used the word “socialist” to describe Sanders, who identifies as a democratic socialist in the European sense of the term.  (Socialists in American politics means Communists or Muslims.  We are not Europeans.)

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