Currently, if you take Donald Trump out of the equation, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL), and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) are the three leading contenders for the 2016 Republican nomination, according to recent national polling.
Not coincidentally, tested in three swing states — Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia — against the presumptive Democratic nominee, a new Quinnipiac University poll finds all three are also edging her in head-to-head match-ups.
More from Quinnipiac:
"Against three Republicans, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Secretary Clinton trails in six matchups and is on the down side of too-close-to call in three," Brown added."That's compared to the April 9 Quinnipiac University poll in which she was clearly ahead in five of the matchups and too-close-to-call in the other four. One other key takeaway is that Vice President Joseph Biden, who is considering a 2016 run, does better than Clinton on honesty and on caring about voter needs, always a key Democratic strong point."
Is it time to start panicking yet?
A little bit of context: President Obama won all three of these swing states in 2012. So perhaps Democrats should feel somewhat hopeful about their chances of keeping Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia blue heading into 2016. But it appears Hillary Clinton’s rigid, hands-off, afraid-of-the-press campaign is rubbing voters the wrong away; across the board, her internals look shockingly awful in these three battleground states (emphasis mine):
Colorado voters say 62 - 34 percent that Hillary Clinton is not honest and trustworthy; 52 - 46 percent that she has strong leadership qualities and 57 - 39 percent that she does not care about their needs and problems. …Hillary Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, Iowa voters say 59 - 33 percent. She is a strong leader, voters say 52 - 43 percent, but she does not care about their needs and problems, voters say 55 - 39 percent. …
Hillary Clinton is not honest and trustworthy, Virginia voters say 55 - 39 percent. She is a strong leader, voters say 54 - 42 percent, but she does not care about their needs and problems, voters say 50 - 45 percent. …
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Brutal. In Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia, Hillary Clinton’s “honest and trustworthy” numbers are underwater by double digits. (In Colorado alone they’re underwater by 28 points). Moreover, a majority of respondents believe Mrs. Clinton doesn’t care about voters’ “needs and problems” — which, you might recall, was the exact same problem Mitt Romney faced in 2012 and we all know how that turned out.
Make no mistake: These figures are — and should be — disconcerting for Team Hillary. But are Donald Trump's worse?
The pollsters call The Donald “[perhaps] the biggest loser” of the poll. But that’s debatable. Very debatable.
Hillary Clinton’s look almost as bad:
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