Hillary Clinton favorable rating

[Landslide Lyndon]

Yeah, and it's not just a case of 'oh, she's running for office now so it was inevitable.' Both Obama and McCain maintained impressive favorables throughout most of the 2008 cycle.

2008 is like a century ago. The electorate now is ten times more polarized than in those days.
That's the reason also why Obama can't break 47-48% approval despite an improving economy and major foreign policy successes.