Republicans are also satisfied with the three entries on the GOP side, though Clinton leads every one in head-to-head contests
There is a long way to go until the 2016 presidential election, but it appears that Republicans and Democrats are getting used to their potential nominees. This is even more the case among Democrats in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, nearly half of them report they are very satisfied having only former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a candidate (which may not be a surprise, since 85% of Democrats have a favorable opinion of her).
But most Republicans also claim they would be at least somewhat content if the only GOP contenders were the three so-far announced candidates: Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Tennessee Senator Rand Paul, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
Relatively few Democrats or Republicans say they are very dissatisfied with those options.
Hillary Clinton has led the Democratic field decisively in pretty much every poll conducted on the horserace. Republicans in this week’s poll, on the other hand, continue to have multiple favorites, with no clear frontrunner. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Ben Carson join Cruz, Paul and Rubio at or near the top of the GOP field, but each barely gets 10% among registered voters who call themselves Republicans.
When asked to choose among the three announced GOP candidates, most Republicans can make a choice – fewer than one in five are unsure. Of the three senators who have made their candidacy official, Marco Rubio has more support than either Ted Cruz or Rand Paul.
Independents, some of whom may participate in GOP primaries and caucuses, are less sure about those three. 43% of them can’t make a choice among Cruz, Paul and Rubio.
This early, Clinton leads all three announced GOP candidates in head-to-head contests, with Rubio and Paul appearing to be more formidable opponents than Cruz. In Rubio’s case, that may be partly due in Rubio’s case to Hispanic voters, who support Clinton in all three imaginary races, but more of them currently say they would be undecided if the GOP nominated Rubio.
Nearly one in ten Republicans would defect to Clinton in each case; just 3% of Democrats would vote Republican.
With no names on the ballot, registered voters seem evenly split: nearly as many say they would vote for a Republican next November as say they would vote for a Democrat.
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Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here.
