(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Three-in-ten adults in the United States believe Hillary Rodham Clinton has faced a more difficult road than her rivals in this year’s presidential campaign, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 30 per cent of respondents think the media has been too hard on the Democratic New York senator.

Conversely, 19 per cent of respondents think the media has been too tough on Republican Arizona senator John McCain, and 13 per cent feel the same way about Democratic Illinois senator Barack Obama.

McCain has become the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee in 2008, while Rodham Clinton and Obama are seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination.

Last month, president of the Massachusetts Senate Therese Murray expressed dismay at the way the media has behaved with Rodham Clinton, saying, "From the beginning, she’s been treated very badly. No woman would have run with Obama’s résumé. She wouldn’t have been considered. (She has been) demonized by the press and the talking heads. How do you get away with that?"

Incumbent George W. Bush is ineligible for a third term in office. The U.S. presidential election is scheduled for Nov. 4.

Polling Data

Do you think the media has been too easy, about right, or too hard on the following presidential candidates?

Source: Gallup / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,013 American adults, conducted from May 19 to May 21, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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