Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the undisputed frontrunner to be the Democratic party’s presidential nominee in 2016 if she runs, is leading several potential GOP contenders by double digits in a new poll.
She leads Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by 13-point margins, 54 percent to 41 percent, among registered voters in the Washington Post-ABC poll. She also leads New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie by 13 points, 53 percent to 40 percent.
Mrs. Clinton leads 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney by a slightly larger 15-point margin, 55 percent to 40 percent. And she leads former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee by 17 points, 56 percent to 39 percent.
About 6 in 10 adults say Mr. Romney’s running as the GOP nominee in 2012 wouldn’t make a difference as to whether or not they would support him. Twelve percent said it makes them more likely to support him, and 26 percent said less likely.
Some have speculated the country might be wary of another potential Bush-Clinton match-up, but 55 percent said Mr. Bush’s family history of his father and brother having served as president doesn’t make a difference for their support, and 62 percent said the same about former President Clinton’s White House experience not making a difference in choosing whether or not to support Mrs. Clinton.
A third said Mr. Bush’s family history in the White House would make them less likely to support him, compared to 11 percent who said it would make them more likely to support him. Twenty-three percent said Mr. Clinton’s service as president would make them more likely to support Mrs. Clinton and 14 percent said it would make them less likely to support her.
About two-thirds said the prospect of Mrs. Clinton’s becoming the first female president would make no difference in whether or not they would support her, while 24 percent said it made them more likely to support her and 10 percent said less likely.
The Jan. 12-15 survey of 1,003 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, and the sample of 843 registered voters has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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