HILLARY'S POPULARITY RATINGS GO NEGATIVE

    A new national poll shows Hillary Rodham Clinton's favorable ratings sinking like a stone, and her negatives soaring.

    The new USA Today/Gallup survey shows Clinton's favorability rating shrunken to 45 percent - down 9 points from a similar poll taken last month, and a 13-point drop from a survey taken shortly after she announced her White House bid.

    More troubling for her White House hopes, her unfavorable ratings have climbed 12 points since she entered the race, and now stand at 52 percent - meaning more Americans now dislike her than like her.

    Clinton's skyrocketing negatives have wiped out her 19-point Democratic primary lead in a similar survey from earlier this month. Obama is now tight on her tail, 31 percent to 26 percent - within the poll's 5-point error margin.

    The poll of 1,007 American adults shows Clinton's favorability even among Democrats dropping.

    Her team is spinning it as normal primary poll tightening, saying that the favorability dip is typical for front-runners.

    But some pros say her increased public profile is reminding voters of her negative image during her husband's presidency.

    "It's like watching a rerun and remembering what you didn't like about the show in the first place," one Democratic campaign veteran said.