News Analysis: Hillary Clinton needs convention bump as popularity slides to 20-year low

With her poll numbers dropping to a 20-year low, U.S. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton desperately needs the democratic convention in Philadelphia to be a success to boost her in the polls.

The start of the Democratic National Convention has been overshadowed by leaked emails that show the Democratic National Committee (DNC) tried to tip the scales in favor of Clinton over challenger Bernie Sanders, whose supporters are holding gatherings in Philadelphia to protest what they called a rigged election process.

At the same time, the Republican National Convention just wrapped up last week, giving Republic nominee Donald Trump a boost in the polls that caused him to take the lead by a hair in the Real Clear Politics average of polls earlier this week.

The New York real estate tycoon has also surged ahead in certain polls, such as a CNN poll on Monday that saw him sprint ahead to lead Clinton by five points.

And perhaps boding worst of all for Clinton is that a Gallup poll released Monday showed that her image is at a 20-year low, with a whopping 57 percent of Americans viewing her unfavorably and a mere 38 percent viewing her favorably.

Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies, of the Brookings Institution told Xinhua that Clinton needs a good convention because national polls currently show her running behind Trump.

"Voters don't trust her and feel that she is not a strong leader. Combined with the DNC email scandal, it is a rough way to start her convention," he said.

Clinton has been dogged by scandal after scandal over her three decades in politics. Those include her being investigated by the Justice Department over her use of a personal and unprotected email server to conduct business while she was Secretary of State.

They also include her perceived mishandling of the security situation in Benghazi, Libya, in which a U.S. consulate was attacked by terrorists, ending with the death of four Americans including a U.S. ambassador.

The good news for Clinton is that almost every nominee gets at least a six-point bounce, so she should be back in the lead by next week. But the race remains close and is likely to be competitive throughout the fall, West said.

Despite the unfair treatment by the Democratic Party in the primaries, Sanders on Monday night also called on voters to back Clinton against Trump.

"Sanders was very helpful to Clinton in his convention speech. He informed his supporters about the stakes of the election and why they should support Clinton," West said. Endit