Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has a sizable lead over his remaining 2016 GOP rivals, but Ohio Gov. John Kasich performs the best head-to-head against the Democratic presidential contenders, according to a poll released Wednesday.
Mr. Trump had a 14-point lead over Sen. Ted Cruz, 43 percent to 29 percent, with Mr. Kasich at 16 percent, according to the national Quinnipiac University poll.
But it’s Mr. Kasich who performs the best in head-to-head matchups against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernard Sanders — likely providing more fodder for the Kasich campaign’s argument that the governor’s electability is part of what could swing delegate support to him in the event of an open GOP convention.
Mr. Kasich leads Mrs. Clinton by 8 points, 47 percent to 39 percent, and he leads Mr. Sanders by 1 point, 45 percent to 44 percent.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, trails Mrs. Clinton by 6 points, 46 percent to 40 percent, and trails Mr. Sanders by 14 points, 52 percent to 38 percent.
Mr. Cruz trails Mrs. Clinton by 3 points, 45 percent to 42 percent, and trails Mr. Sanders by 11 points, 50 percent to 39 percent.
In the Democratic horse race, Mrs. Clinton led Mr. Sanders by 12 points, 50 percent to 38 percent.
More than half of American voters — 54 percent — also said they would “definitely not support” Mr. Trump and 43 percent said the same of Mrs. Clinton.
Thirty-three percent said no way to Mr. Cruz, 27 percent said the same of Mr. Sanders, and 14 percent said they would not support Mr. Kasich.
“Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton may have the overall leads among primary voters, but there is not a lot of love in the room as a big percentage of Americans say of the front-runners they could take ’em or leave ’em,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.
“Though short on delegates and short on time, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Gov. John Kasich can hang their hats on the fact that if folks went to the polls today, they’d fare better than the other candidates,” Mr. Malloy said.
Mr. Sanders and Mr. Kasich also had the best overall favorability ratings of the five remaining candidates. Mr. Sanders had a 50 percent/37 percent favorable/unfavorable split, and Mr. Kasich had a 43 percent/20 percent favorable/unfavorable split.
Mr. Trump had the worst net split, at 33 percent favorable/61 percent unfavorable, and Mrs. Clinton wasn’t much better, at 39 percent favorable/56 percent unfavorable.
Mr. Cruz had a 32 percent/47 percent overall split.
On an open-ended question of how the possibility of Mr. Trump as president made voters feel, 117 said “scared” — the most frequent answer that was given.
Forty-six said “disaster,” 45 said “frightened” and 45 said “terrified,” 42 said “horrified,” and 41 said “disgusted.”
Thirty-six said “good,” 29 said “great,” and 29 said “hopeful.”
For Mrs. Clinton, “disaster” topped the list at 68. Fifty-one said “good,” 49 said “scared,” 43 said “disappointed,” 41 said “hopeful,” 36 said “okay,” and 31 said “excited.”
The poll also showed that voters believe protesters, Mr. Trump, and Mr. Trump’s supporters all bear some share of the blame for the recent violence at some of his rallies.
Seventy-eight percent said the protesters are at least somewhat responsible for the incidents, compared to 70 percent who said Mr. Trump’s supporters are at least somewhat responsible and 64 percent who said the same of Mr. Trump himself.
“Donald Trump may say hired instigators have brought violence to his rallies, but 64 percent of American voters are laying the blame squarely on the candidate, while 78 percent are blaming the protestors,” Mr. Malloy said.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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