Though former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush leads a host of potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates in a new poll on New Hampshire, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky comes closest to former Secretary of State and Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton in a general election match-up.
Mrs. Clinton leads Mr. Paul, 48 percent to 41 percent, according to a the Bloomberg Politics/Saint Anselm poll.
She leads former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who was out in front among the GOP contenders, 50 percent to 36 percent, and she leads Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker 50 percent to 37 percent.
Mr. Bush had led a host of possible GOP contenders with 16 percent of the vote, followed by Mr. Paul at 13 percent and Mr. Walker at 12 percent.
It seems many voters are still getting to know Mr. Walker, who has surged to the top or near the top of recent polling on the 2016 GOP field after a well-received appearance at last month’s Iowa Freedom Summit.
Mrs. Clinton had a 54 percent favorability rating among general election voters, compared to a 42 percent who had an unfavorable view. Mr. Bush had a 35 percent/50 percent favorable/unfavorable split, and Mr. Paul had an evenly-divided 40 percent/40 percent split.
Meanwhile, 26 percent of voters had a favorable view of Mr. Walker, compared to 24 percent who had an unfavorable one.
“I’d choose Walker over Hillary Clinton, but I’d choose Ronald McDonald over Hillary Clinton,” Scott Sullivan, 30, a firearms manufacturer and independent from Warner, New Hampshire, told Bloomberg. “Walker would be my top choice currently, but maybe only because he hasn’t had the opportunity to do anything to make me like him less yet.”
Mr. Walker is scheduled to head to the Granite State next month for a Republican Party event.
The Purple Strategies poll of 503 general election voters was conducted from Jan. 31-Feb. 5 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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