Hillary Clinton is the people's choice for 2016 Prez bid: poll

An ABC News/Washington Post poll found 65-year-old Clinton's popularity at an all-time high, and that 57 per cent of Americans want her to run for the White House.

Among all women, 66 per cent say they would support Clinton as a candidate for president in 2016; it is 75 per cent among those under 50 and 54 per cent among those aged 50 and up.

Forty-nine per cent of men back a Clinton bid, regardless of what side of 50 they are on.

Support for a Clinton candidacy is high among both Democratic men and women (80 and 84 percent, respectively).

Republicans are far less supportive of a presidential bid from the former first lady: in the poll, 23 per cent of Republicans would support a run in 2016; 73 per cent would oppose it.

Some 82 per cent of Democrats would back her candidacy, with most saying they would do so "strongly".

A majority of independents, 59 per cent, also support another Clinton run.

Some of this support stems from her high overall popularity: 66 percent of all Americans express favourable views of the soon-to-be-former Secretary of State, the most doing so in more than 20 years of polling.

Fully 68 per cent approve of the way she is handling her current job, as top diplomat.

On both scores, personal popularity and job performance, Democrats are overwhelmingly supportive of the long-time party leader, as are around two-thirds of independents.

Even sizable numbers of Republicans are on board here, particularly when it comes to rating how she is doing as secretary of state: 40 per cent approve and 50 per cent disapprove.

At 66 percent favourable, Clinton is as high as she has ever been in terms of public perceptions.

She was about as well regarded earlier this year, with the numbers topping her most popular periods of the late 1990s.

The new data represent a clear turnaround from April 2008, when her just 44 per cent of Americans expressed favourable opinions, a low-point from that campaign.

The survey ignited intense new speculation about Clinton's future after she steps down as the nation's top diplomat early next year.

Clinton has said she wants to rest after four years heading the State Department, and visiting more than 100 countries, but key Democrats expect her to take a serious look at running for the White House.

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