Posted on 04/03/2013 8:46:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
There is no front-runner now for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, leaving a five- way horse race with no candidate above 19 percent among Republican voters, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today.
New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie, who ran better than other Republicans against top Democrats in a March 7 survey of all American voters by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN- uh-pe-ack) University, gets only 14 percent of Republican voters today.
Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio gets 19 percent of Republican voters, with 17 percent for U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, 15 percent for U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and 10 percent for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Other contenders are at 3 percent or less.
The March 7 poll of all American voters, pitting Vice President Joseph Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo against Christie, Ryan or Rubio showed Christie was the second most popular leader, topping Biden and Cuomo but trailing Clinton.
"Three years before the nominating process, the Republicans have no clear favorite," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Sen. Marco Rubio benefits from his exposure giving the GOP response to the State of the Union while Congressman Paul Ryan is known as the Republican vice presidential candidate. But history tells us being the running-mate on a losing ticket does not help one's presidential chances. The last three Republicans in that spot were Sarah Palin, Jack Kemp and Dan Quayle, while the Democrats in that role were John Edwards, Joe Lieberman and Lloyd Bentsen."
Republican voters say 59 - 23 percent that they prefer someone with experience as a governor, rather than a senator as their party's nominee.
"History indicates that Republicans who win the White House tend to be former governors and there are several thinking about running for the White House in 2016," said Brown. "New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie is obviously the best known at this point, and Jeb Bush makes the top five, but Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell barely register in this survey."
Among all American voters, the Democratic Party is less disliked than the GOP: the Democrats get a negative 38 - 44 percent favorability, compared to a negative 28 - 52 percent for the Republicans. The Tea Party gets a negative 24 - 43 percent.
Voters also give Republicans in Congress a negative 19 - 71 percent job approval, compared to a negative 34 - 59 percent for the Democrats in Congress.
"The Republican brand is essentially in the toilet these days, but it's worth remembering the Democrats faced a similar situation in the late 1980s and got their house in order and returned to power in short order," said Brown.
The Republican Party can do a better job handling the federal deficit, American voters say 43 - 36 percent, while the Democrats will do a better job 49 - 37 percent on health care, 49 - 28 percent on same-sex marriage, and 42 - 38 percent on immigration. Voters are divided almost evenly on which party can do a better job on the economy, taxes and gun control.
Among the most important issues in deciding how they will vote for Congress, 40 percent of American voters list the economy/jobs, with 20 percent listing the budget or budget deficit, 20 percent listing health care, 9 percent citing gun issues and 8 percent listing taxes.
President Barack Obama gets a 49 - 45 percent job approval rating.
"President Barack Obama got a post-election bounce to 53 - 40 percent in a December Quinnipiac University poll. Then he dropped into mid-40s splits as the budget battle with Congress took its toll," Brown said. "Now he may be inching up again."
From March 26 - April 1, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,711 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points. The survey includes 712 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percent. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.
The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research.
I said long before the election that if this man is elected, he has no intention of standing down. He may be force to, but he doesn't intend to leave on his own.
I'll take the first 400 people in the phone book over the lot of them.
That was said a lot about the Clintons too but it wasn’t correct.
I think Baraq would be happy to retire to a life on the golf course, and daily worship sessions on MSNBC.
Name one that is. We have had only one since Roosevelt, hint he didn’t have Bush as a last name.
Are you absolutely nuts?
What a screwed up horse race. Some Geldings their for sure, when we really want an Alaskan Mare to run...
That worries me as well. Rubio would be the 2016 version of Perry (establishment guy in tea party drag), with Rand Paul the libertarian guy in conservative drag, and they'd split the gullible conservative vote while Jeb Bush runs away with the nomination.
Define "better job". What kind of ridiculous question is that?
me too, actually
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3003786/posts
PPP GOP 2016 Primary: Rubio 21%, Rand Paul 17%, Christie 15%, Bush 12%, Ryan 12%
Yeah, you’re right. There will be one issue or another that each candidate isn’t quite conservative enough on and the infighting begins.
I know too little about Walker and McDonnell to make a judgement at this time.
Christie and Bush are non-starters, Jindal has zero charisma.
At this time I am leery of Rubio the weather vane.
Rand has been prominent lately and I like what he has said. Ryan, liked him during the campaign.
Palin? really like but the MSM has done so much damage to her I’m not sure she could recover
To be fair though, that is a MAJOR consolation. Those who have not been conditioned to view gov’t benefits as a lifeline will pull through ok - certainly they will do just fine relative to those who ahve been conditioned to think they are entitled to everyone else’s money.
I’ll say this much - among Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Ben Carson and, yes, Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, if we can get any of them to win over Hillary and any one of them does win, the vast majority of American conservatives will not exactly be in mourning. In fact, by and large they will be doing backflips once they stop to fully reconsider what the alternative would be. They may get a lot of flak now, but just wait and see what the attitude is by 2016.
About Cruz and the birthers, so what?
Let them eat cake at the kiddie table while the adults elect a conservative President.
BTW is Walker not interested? He is never in any of these polls.
He's never going to sell any books or get TV contracts with FNC by staying out of that national limelight~ cameras. Doesnt he know that playing candidate =$$$$$ ? The MSM either is very gullible or they are part of the scam.
“New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie, who ran better than other Republicans against top Democrats in a March 7 survey of all American voters by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN- uh-pe-ack) University, gets only 14 percent of Republican voters today.
Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio gets 19 percent of Republican voters, with 17 percent for U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, 15 percent for U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and 10 percent for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Other contenders are at 3 percent or less”
not again!
I will not support someone thinks that any citizen can be killed by the government at any time, for any reason. He argues that there might be some scenario that justifies drones. Why doesn’t he ask whether their usefulness justifies the trillions of dollars we are spending on the? Because he is 100% socialist. It’s time for socialists like him to stop getting a free ride.
I agree 15 years ago, this theory was not in existence. Some conservatives changed everything they believed in because of Obama. Show the continually evolving history of eligibility.
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