Hillary Clinton’s huge 80 percent support in Virginia has sunk to just 40 percent, and now only Vice President Biden is the Democrat who can beat every Republican in the must-win state for the eventual Democratic nominee, according to a newly released poll.
“Clinton’s once dominant position is no longer,” said Quentin Kidd, director of the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University. “Virginia Democrats are intrigued by Joe Biden, but younger voters are also intrigued by Bernie Sanders,” he added.
In April, 80 percent of Virginia Democrats backed Clinton. Now it’s down to 40 percent. Biden is tied for second with Sanders at 23 percent, followed by former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb at 5 percent.
“Virginia Democrats are hesitating on Clinton,” said Kidd. “While she continues to lead, the fact that Sanders’ campaign and Biden’s potential candidacy have cut her lead in half shows that they are looking seriously at alternatives.”
Biden is the beneficiary of Clinton’s fall in Virginia, the poll showed. Now, only Biden can beat the entire GOP list of candidates between 4 and 17 points. He would beat Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, by 17 points.
Biden is still considering getting into the race.
Worse for Clinton, said the poll: “Hillary Clinton loses to all Republicans except Trump (+7) and Cruz (+8). Her biggest loss would be to Ben Carson, who beats her by 6 points.”
And Biden does better among women voters in Virginia than Clinton despite her woman-focused campaign.
The key findings from the Virginia poll:
1. Hillary Clinton is the top choice among Democrats, but her lead drops dramatically since April.
2. Clinton beats only Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in hypothetical head-to-head 2016 matchups.
3. Joe Biden beats every Republican candidate in hypothetical head-to-head 2016 matchups.
4. Trump still leads Republicans but also has the highest unfavorable ranking of any candidate of either party.
5. Ben Carson, who is second among Republicans, cuts into Democrats’ traditional advantage with African Americans and younger voters.
6. 2nd choices show that many GOP voters cluster around “outsiders” Trump, Carson and Carly Fiorina vs. “establishment” candidates.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
