Doug Schoen, pollster: Hillary Clinton is a long shot for president

Doug Schoen, who served as a pollster for former President Bill Clinton, said the election of Hillary Clinton to the White House in 2016 is hardly a given — a long shot, really.

She doesn’t have the “new car smell” that President Obama cited last week as a must-have for the incoming commander-in-chief, he said during an interview on “The Cats Roundtable” on AM 970 in New York. On top of that, Mitt Romney — should he choose to run again — would be a “formidable opponent,” Mr. Schoen said, Newsmax reported.

“We’re in a real barn burner,” he said in the radio interview. “The race hasn’t even begun, and it’s tied ostensibly between Hillary and Mitt Romney.”

Polls back that assessment, Mr. Schoen said, pointing to a recent one from Quinnipiac that put Mr. Romney ahead of Mrs. Clinton, 45 percent to 44 percent, in a 2016 match-up.

“We’re in a statistical tie here,” Mr. Schoen said, Newsmax reported. “It’s anyone’s to be won. … The real question is how does she separate herself from Obama, yet not get so far away from him that … she doesn’t alienate his base constituents?”

Mr. Schoen also said he doesn’t see a Sen. Elizabeth Warren candidacy for the White House, no matter the pressure from the progressive camp.

“I think she’s a strong candidate if she runs,” Mr. Schoen said, Newsmax reported. “But there’s a big if.”