Keller @ Large: Presidential Name Game

BOSTON (CBS) - Yesterday, we went over to a busy crossroads in Brighton and asked people to play a little word association game – we name a presidential candidate, and you say the first thing that comes to mind.

A sampling:

Hillary Clinton?
"Bill Clinton."

Jeb Bush?
"Brother and son of a president."

Donald Trump?
"Money."

And those were some of the more flattering responses.

What's in a name? For the three best-known presidential contenders, trouble, according to our unscientific survey and a new national poll from Quinnipiac University that found most people associating Hillary Clinton with synonyms for dishonesty.

READ: Quinnpiac Poll Results

It's a perception that's haunting Clinton as she struggles to dig out from under her e-mail missteps, doubts about her handling of the Benghazi fiasco, and a sort of guilt-by-association with sketchy parts of the Clinton legacy.

Donald Trump?
"A jerk…crazy."

Trump also takes a name-game beating in the Quinnipiac poll which he nonetheless wins handily, suggesting that for now, his negatives are offset by his freshness in a way Clinton's are not.

And for Jeb Bush, the name game offers a daunting verdict -- that so far, all anyone's absorbing about him is his famous family name.

Jeb Bush?
"Bush, the original Bush… George's brother… don't make me vomit."

Oh my.

Looks like all of these big names have to do a better job replacing knee-jerk negativity about them with something more positive.