Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to the reporters at United Nations headquarters, Tuesday, March 10, 2015. Clinton conceded that she should have used a government email to conduct business as secretary of state, saying her decision was simply a matter of “convenience.” (Photo: AP/Seth Wenig)
Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton is now trailing the top Republican candidates in several key swing states, including Colorado, Iowa and Virginia. According to a new Quinnipiac University Poll, the former secretary of state can no longer dismiss her abysmal favorability and trustworthy numbers, while underscoring her leadership numbers and overall lead.
“Hillary Clinton’s numbers have dropped among voters in the key swing states of Colorado, Iowa and Virginia. She has lost ground in the horserace and on key questions about her honesty and leadership,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “On being a strong leader, a key metric in presidential campaigns, she has dropped four to 10 points depending on the state and she is barely above 50 percent in each of the three states.”
Clinton trails both Floridians — Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush — in all three states, but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker performs the best out of the three top candidates. Further, Vermont socialist Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders trails the three Republican candidates by roughly the same margins as Hillary Clinton.
| Matchups in each state show: | |
Colorado Iowa Virginia * Clinton 38 36 41 * Rubio 46 44 43 * Clinton 36 36 39 * Bush 41 42 42 * Clinton 38 37 40 * Walker 47 45 43 * Biden 35 37 41 * Rubio 49 45 45 * Biden 36 37 40 * Bush 45 44 45 * Biden 36 36 41 * Walker 48 47 45 * Sanders 35 36 37 * Rubio 46 43 44 * Sanders 37 38 36 * Bush 43 42 46 * Sanders 36 36 36 * Walker 44 44 44 |
“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,” Brown added. “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.”
Colorado voters — who choose Walker over Clinton by a 9-point margin — say by 62 – 34 percent that Hillary is not honest and trustworthy. A far smaller 52 – 46 percent say that she has strong leadership qualities and 57 – 39 percent that she does not care about their needs and problems. Walker, who much narrower name recognition, gets a 35 – 25 percent favorability rating in Colorado. Voters say 40 – 30 percent that he is honest, while 46 – 23 percent say that he has strong leadership skills and 38 – 33 percent that he cares about their needs.
| 2. If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Hillary Clinton the Democrat and Scott Walker the Republican, for whom would you vote? | |
CO IA VA Clinton 38% 37% 40% Walker 47 45 43 SMONE ELSE(VOL) 3 4 4 WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 6 5 5 DK/NA 6 9 8 |
“Hillary Clinton’s numbers on honesty and trust may border on abysmal but Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the GOP front runner, is still battling a name recognition handicap,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Do Colorado voters trust Hillary? No, they do not. Do they think she cares about their needs? No they do not.”
“So the door is open to a GOP candidate voters can believe in,” Malloy said of the most demographically diverse purple state polled in the survey.
Though not as bad as Clinton, Jeb Bush is also struggling with key fundamental questions. Bush has a negative 35 – 50 percent favorability among voters in Colorado, who say by 48 – 40 percent that he is honest and trustworthy, 58 – 31 percent that he has strong leadership qualities and 48 – 40 percent that he does not care about their needs and problems.
| 1. If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Hillary Clinton the Democrat and Jeb Bush the Republican, for whom would you vote? | |
CO IA VA Clinton 36% 36% 39% Bush 41 42 42 SMONE ELSE(VOL) 5 5 4 WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 9 10 7 DK/NA 8 8 8 |
In all three states, Sen. Rubio, who continues to enjoy above water favorability ratings, polls second best against Hillary Clinton.
| 3. If the election for President were being held today, and the candidates were Hillary Clinton the Democrat and Marco Rubio the Republican, for whom would you vote? | |
CO IA VA Clinton 38% 36% 41% Rubio 46 44 43 SMONE ELSE(VOL) 4 4 4 WLDN'T VOTE(VOL) 6 6 5 DK/NA 7 10 7 |
“Because Iowa is the scene of the first caucus, Iowa voters are exposed to the presidential campaign more and much earlier than those in any other state with the possible exception of New Hampshire,” Brown said. “The result is that they see campaign television ads many months before most of the rest of the country. The large drop in Secretary Clinton’s favorability in Iowa, from a split 45 – 47 percent in Quinnipiac University’s April 9 survey to a big negative 33 – 56 percent today, has to be worrisome for her.”
