Memo to Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and other liberals: Democrats are overwhelmingly ready for Hillary Clinton to run for the White House in 2016.
But is the general electorate ready? Well, not as much.
That’s the conclusion from new NBC News/Marist polls of Iowa and New Hampshire, where Clinton crushes Vice President Biden among Democratic voters in a hypothetical matchup — 70% to 20% in Iowa, and 74% to 18% in New Hampshire.
What’s more, Iowa Democrats view Clinton positively by a whopping 89%-to-6% score, and New Hampshire Democrats are even more welcoming, giving her a 94%-to-4% favorable/unfavorable rating.
These numbers come as liberals begin gathering on Thursday for the three-day “Netroots Nation” conference in Detroit, where Biden, Warren and other Democratic politicians will address the annual progressive conference.
The NBC/Marist polls, however, did not test Warren in the hypothetical Democratic match ups.
But if Clinton looks like an unbeatable juggernaut in the Democratic presidential race – if she runs, of course – she appears more vulnerable in a general-election contest.
In the presidential battleground state of Iowa, Clinton is tied with Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican (45% to 45%), and leads New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie by just one point (44% to 43%).
She holds larger leads against former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (46% to 42%, Sen. Marco Rubio, a florida Republican, (49% to 40%), Sen. Ted. Cruz, a Texas Republican (49% to 37%) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (50% to 37%).
In hypothetical general-election match ups in New Hampshire, Clinton is ahead of Paul by three points (46% to 43%), Christie and Bush by five points (47% to 42%), Walker by nine points (48% to 39%) and Cruz by 13 (51% to 38%).
All of that said, headlines like this one— “University at Buffalo paid $275,000 for Hillary Clinton speech — aren’t good news for her. She is making ex-president money when she is likely running for president.
Leading the GOP pack: Undecided
As for the Republican presidential primary field, 20% of GOP caucus-goers in Iowa and 22% of GOP New Hampshire primary voters say they are undecided about their pick in 2016. Among the named individuals in Iowa, Bush and Paul are at the top of the crowded and close field with support from 12% of GOP caucus-goers; former vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan gets 11%; former presidential candidate Rick Santorum gets 9%; and Christie gets 8%. No one else gets more than 7%. When the Iowa Republicans were asked who their second choice would be, the top responses were Bush (12%), Santorum (11%), Ryan (11%), Texas Gov. Rick Perry (11%) and Paul (10%). Topping the field in New Hampshire: Paul (14%), Christie (13%), Bush (10%), Cruz (9%), and Ryan and Rubio (7%). The second-choice picks in the Granite State: Rubio (16%), Bush (13%), Christie and Paul (12%) and Ryan (10%). The NBC/Marist poll of Iowa was conducted July 7-13 of 558 potential Republican caucus-goers (+/- 4.1% margin of error), 538 potential Democratic caucus-goers (+/- 4.2%) and 1,599 potential general-election voters (+/- 2.5%). The NBC/Marist poll of New Hampshire was conducted July 7-13 of 544 potential GOP primary voters (+/- 4.2%), 479 potential Democratic primary voters (+/- 4.5%) and 1,342 registered voters (+/- 2.7%).
Mark Murray Recommended
