Hillary Clinton is the first woman to become the presidential nominee of a major US political party, and a new poll has found that three out of four Americans think a female president would be a positive change. The finding, which comes ahead of the Democratic National Convention, was published on Wednesday by Ipsos Mori. The global market research and consulting firm said 57 per cent of Americans believed having a female president would be a "good thing". Just three per cent of respondents thought otherwise, while 40 per cent said it would not make much difference either way. "Americans think it's a good thing for a woman to be President," Ipsos spokesman Chris Jackson said in a statement. "They see a woman as likely to have different viewpoints, which is positive for the US and the global markets." "That a woman could be the next President is not a huge surprise," Chris Browne, the senior US political strategist for public relations firm Weber Shandwick, told Al Jazeera. {articleGUID} "It's historic, it's different, and it's the direction America and the world is heading towards," he said. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, 64 per cent of registered voters were supportive of Clinton's nomination, while 27 per cent were against her. That same poll found that 61 percent of Americans felt the country was ready for a woman president, with 35 percent saying no. While having a female president is not what most Americans voted for in the presidential election, it is seen as a positive by many. A study by the non-profit Center for American Women and Politics released in May found that 59 per cent of Americans believed the US was ready for a female president, with 36 per cent saying no. {articleGUID} A CNN/ORC International poll taken from July 25-28 found 52 per cent of Americans agreed that the nation was ready for a female president, with 47 per cent disagreeing. Amidst some criticism over the Democratic Party's "systematic purge of progressive policies and personnel," Browne said Clinton is "probably a candidate who is more pragmatic and pragmatic than perhaps some would like her to be". "We are looking for stability and experience," he said, "and she's been there." Meanwhile, voters in key states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, Iowa and Arizona - all states that went to Trump in the election - were polled by pollsters including CNN/ORC. The states' voters found Clinton "well-liked" and "experienced" but "not trustworthy", with the majority considering her presidential debate performance to be "below par". The CNN/ORC survey, which was conducted from September 2-6, found Clinton with a 55 per cent favourability rating in Iowa, with 53 per cent of voters in North Carolina saying the same. But Trump's approval rating was 51 per cent in each state. 'Women's agenda' While the US elected its first female president in 2016, she will be up against a man who has said, "When a woman's an open book, it's easy to beat her." {articleGUID} Still, if given the opportunity, "every woman" will make a better president than Trump, a recent University of Pennsylvania survey of likely voters found. Asked "What percentage of women can beat Donald Trump in a general election?" 57 per cent responded "all", 32 per cent responded "none", and 10 per cent responded "only one". The Ipsos Mori poll found nearly three quarters of women polled found "women's issues" to be important to them, including equal pay for women, affordable child care and access to health insurance, as "very important". Fifty-seven per cent of voters said a "stronger economy for all" would be a "positive change", while just 24 per cent disagreed. "There is a big agenda about having a woman become president and I think there's a lot of optimism about the future and what a woman president would mean," Browne said. "It's about more than just Hillary," he said, referring to her gender, "but I think more than that it's about a progressive woman taking over." "What's happened is she has run an incredibly effective campaign," Browne added, "but I think people like Joe Biden in the past have talked about how he believes the country will elect the first woman president."