Hillary Clinton's are in "free fall," CNN reported Friday, with a new CNN/ORC poll showing diminishing enthusiasm for her candidacy, and her advantage over top Republican candidates in hypothetical matchups has "seemingly vanished."
Clinton is the top choice of 37 percent of Democrats for president, down 10 points from August, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) is at 27 percent and Vice President Joe Biden, who is not a declared candidate but is considering a run, is at 20 percent.
"Why is this all happening?" CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny asked. "The enthusiasm numbers. This is perhaps the most striking number of all."
Forty-three percent of Democrats describe themselves as enthusiastic about her nomination, down from 60 percent in April when Clinton first announced her bid for the presidency. There was also troubling news for Clinton in terms of potential runs against Republican candidates, CNN reports:
In the general election matchups, Clinton trails former neurosurgeon Ben Carson by a significant margin (51% Carson to 46% Clinton among registered voters) while running about evenly with both former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (49% Bush to 47% Clinton) and businessman Donald Trump (48% back each).
The shift away from the former secretary of state stems from shrinking support among women. Clinton's advantage among women has disappeared in matchups against Bush and Carson. Facing Trump, Clinton still carries women by a large, though tighter, margin. In August, 60% of women favored Clinton to 37% for Trump, but that's narrowed slightly to 55% Clinton, 41% Trump now. Clinton's advantage among women against Trump is fueled by independent women, despite that group shifting away from Clinton in the head-to-head against Bush.
Clinton apologized this week for the private email scandal that has dogged her campaign since the spring after saying repeatedly she had nothing to be sorry about. Questions about her integrity and competence have arisen with revelations that classified information passed through her unsecured server, and it has borne itself out in the polls.