Politico: U.S. better off with Hillary Clinton?

U.S. better off with Hillary Clinton?

By MACKENZIE WEINGER | 9/16/11 6:29 AM EDT Updated: 9/16/11 4:22 PM EDT

It should have been you, Hillary.

In a case of serious buyer’s remorse, one-third of Americans say the United States would be better off if Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were president, according to a new poll Friday.

Clinton is the most popular national political figure in the country today, with 64 percent of Americans polled holding a favorable view of her, the Bloomberg poll shows.

And 34 percent say they think the U.S. would be in better shape if she had won the election over President Barack Obama.

In 2010, Bloomberg found just 25 percent saying they wished Clinton had become president.

Even tea party supporters are dreaming of Clinton — 44 percent told pollsters the U.S. would be better off with her as president, even as 59 percent say they hold an unfavorable view of her. And 39 percent of Republicans agree that Clinton would have run the country better than Obama.

Most Democrats, or 57 percent, say they think things would be the same.

Just 29 percent of those polled said they believe Sen. John McCain would have been the better pick, while 28 percent say they thought things would not be any different if he were president.

Just 13 percent told Bloomberg they thought things would be worse in the country if Clinton was in power, while 35 percent say the U.S. would be in bad shape with McCain as president. Almost half of all Americans — 47 percent — said they thought things would be about the same in a Clinton administration as Obama’s current one.

Bloomberg conducted its poll Sept. 9-12 and surveyed 997 adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.