WSJ Poll: Hillary Clinton Widens Lead in Primary Race
Democrats are solidifying their support for Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential nominee and show little appetite for Vice President Joe Biden to enter the race, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
The findings were released just as Mr. Biden, speaking at an event Tuesday, trumpeted his political credentials and took veiled swipes at Mrs. Clinton. But while Biden allies continued to prepare for a White House run, the latest survey found just 30% of those who plan to vote in a Democratic primary said he should seek the nomination—an underwhelming finding for a lifelong public figure who has been agonizing for weeks over a possible White House bid.
Mr. Biden, at the event honoring former Vice President Walter Mondale, cast himself as a senior statesman with a knack for reaching across the aisle.
Still, the Journal/NBC News survey, conducted in the days after Mrs. Clinton’s strong performance in last week’s first Democratic debate, shows the former senator and secretary of state with a widening lead over the competition, even when Mr. Biden is placed on the ballot.
The poll found that if Mr. Biden were in the race, he would be the first choice of only 15% of Democratic primary voters, while 49% would pick Mrs. Clinton and 29% Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Without the vice president in the race, the poll found, Mrs. Clinton’s lead over Mr. Sanders stands at 58% to 33%—10 percentage points wider than her advantage in a Journal/NBC News poll taken in September.
But the poll also points to some of Mrs. Clinton’s weaknesses as a general-election candidate and to risks as she heads into a congressional hearing Thursday on the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that occurred while she was heading the State Department.
The poll found that only 27% of Americans overall are satisfied with her answers on the terror attacks on the U.S. consulate, while 44% aren’t. Nearly half of those surveyed—47%—said that her use of a private email account at the State Department was an important factor in deciding how they would vote in 2016. Some 44% said it wasn’t an important factor.
“For Mrs. Clinton, this week’s Benghazi hearings are a reminder of the obstacles she faces once she steps outside the embrace of her party’s base,” said Democratic pollster Fred Yang, who conducted the Journal/NBC News survey with Republican Bill McInturff.
Democrats are solidifying their support for Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential nominee and show little appetite for Vice President Joe Biden to enter the race, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.
The findings were released just as Mr. Biden, speaking at an event Tuesday, trumpeted his political credentials and took veiled swipes at Mrs. Clinton. But while Biden allies continued to prepare for a White House run, the latest survey found just 30% of those who plan to vote in a Democratic primary said he should seek the nomination—an underwhelming finding for a lifelong public figure who has been agonizing for weeks over a possible White House bid.
Mr. Biden, at the event honoring former Vice President Walter Mondale, cast himself as a senior statesman with a knack for reaching across the aisle.
Still, the Journal/NBC News survey, conducted in the days after Mrs. Clinton’s strong performance in last week’s first Democratic debate, shows the former senator and secretary of state with a widening lead over the competition, even when Mr. Biden is placed on the ballot.
The poll found that if Mr. Biden were in the race, he would be the first choice of only 15% of Democratic primary voters, while 49% would pick Mrs. Clinton and 29% Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Without the vice president in the race, the poll found, Mrs. Clinton’s lead over Mr. Sanders stands at 58% to 33%—10 percentage points wider than her advantage in a Journal/NBC News poll taken in September.
But the poll also points to some of Mrs. Clinton’s weaknesses as a general-election candidate and to risks as she heads into a congressional hearing Thursday on the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that occurred while she was heading the State Department.
The poll found that only 27% of Americans overall are satisfied with her answers on the terror attacks on the U.S. consulate, while 44% aren’t. Nearly half of those surveyed—47%—said that her use of a private email account at the State Department was an important factor in deciding how they would vote in 2016. Some 44% said it wasn’t an important factor.
“For Mrs. Clinton, this week’s Benghazi hearings are a reminder of the obstacles she faces once she steps outside the embrace of her party’s base,” said Democratic pollster Fred Yang, who conducted the Journal/NBC News survey with Republican Bill McInturff.