A poll released by McClatchy-Marist on Wednesday shows that former First Lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds a commanding lead over pretty much every GOP candidate for the 2016 Presidential election. When heads up with any one of the potential candidates the GOP may run out, Clinton holds anywhere from an 8 to 21 point lead. The poll also reiterates what we’ve known for some time now–Chris Christie’s national aspirations are over.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is the one candidate who was able to fare best against Clinton. The poll showed Clinton ahead of Ryan 52-44. The poll found one other person that would get within 10 points of Clinton, but we already know that he isn’t running. 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney trailed Clinton by 9 points in this poll. However, in this matchup, Clinton received her lowest Republican support, as only 9% said they would vote for her. Against all other candidates, she was in double-figures. It also showed Romney getting the same number of independent voters, as they were tied at 48% a piece.
However, against any truly possible contenders, Clinton just plain dominated. Embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie trailed Clinton by 21 points. The poll showed Clinton faring strongly with Republicans and independents. 19% of Republicans and 54% of independents said they’d vote for her. Christie was only able to get 75% of Republicans to show support for him, a very low number from one’s own party. At this point, they may as well just stop adding Christie’s name to these polls.
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Tea Party candidates didn’t fare much better than Christie against Clinton. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) also saw himself way behind, as Clinton led against him 58-38. Hillary Clinton enjoyed solid Republican support against Paul, as 24% said they’d vote for her in this matchup. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) did slightly better, ‘only’ trailing Clinton by 17 points. While he cut into some of that bipartisan support for Clinton as she only got 15% of the Republicans, he completely lost the independents, as Clinton was ahead with them 55-37.
It also seemed like the poll wanted to have a little fun and see what a hypothetical matchup between former half-term Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and Clinton. As one would expect, Clinton crushed Palin 62-35. That is a 27-point margin. Independents were completely turned off by Palin, as Clinton held a 41-point lead over the Tea Party darling. Palin’s supporters may want to take a look at this poll before allowing themselves to be taken in by another one of her scams regarding a potential Presidential run.
In fact, the poll showed that the majority of Republicans now do NOT support the Tea Party. 55% of Republicans polled said they are not Tea Party supporters. If the majority of Republicans don’t support this so-called movement, and you know that liberals and progressives disdain it, how in the hell do Tea Party candidates expect to win on a national stage? The GOP needs to do something ASAP if it wants to stay relevant. It needs to eject these charlatans from the party before it permanently costs them the Presidency.
Justin Baragona is the Managing Editor at Politicus Sports as well as Senior Editor at PoliticusUSA. He was a political writer for 411Mania.com before joining PoliticusUSA. Politically, Justin considers himself a liberal but also a realist and pragmatist. Currently, Justin lives in St. Louis, MO and is married. Besides writing, he also runs his own business after spending a number of years in the corporate world. You can follow Justin on Twitter either with his personal handle (@justinbaragona) or the Sports site’s (@PoliticusSports).
