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Report: Voters trust Republicans more to protect them from terrorism.

By Adam B. Lerner

2/23/15 5:35 AM EST

Updated 2/23/15 5:35 AM EST

Now, more so than at any other time in the past 12 years, voters trust Republicans more than Democrats to protect them from terrorism. A new report by Ben Freeman and Michelle Diggles from Third Way, a center-left think tank, claimed to have identified the Democrats antidote: Hillary Clinton.

Focus groups conducted in October and November 2014 with white college-educated swing voters in Colorado and Iowa indicated that Clinton was an exception to the Democrats otherwise lackluster performance, the researchers found. Respondents said she exhibits strength without being pushy and is quicker to make decisions than President Barack Obama without being too proactive like former President George W. Bush.

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In Gallup polls dating back to 2003, Republicans have consistently led Democrats on national security except for an approximately 18-month period from 2007 to mid-2008. Republicans now have a 23-percentage-point lead, after hovering in the teens and single digits through the rest of the period.

It remains unclear whether Clintons personal favorability on national security will last into a national campaign, the researchers found; respondents praised the current Democratic front-runner in vague terms but their skepticism of her party and the president for whom she worked as secretary of state could sully her brand as she takes more public stances.

More here:
National security still a perception problem for Democrats