As Democrats head to Minneapolis for the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting, questions swirl. Is Hillary Clinton still inevitable? Will Joe Biden enter the presidential race? What will happen in the probe of the private email server Clinton used while secretary of state?
Clinton is still a strong front-runner for the Democratic nomination. But Bernie Sanders has taken the lead in a second New Hampshire primary poll. Speculation about a Biden run is increasing.
Nearly one in four Democrats tell pollsters Clinton should suspend her campaign until the email controversy is sorted out. The numbers are predictably higher among independents and, especially, Republicans.
As the scandal surrounding Clinton’s use of a private email system, it seems that the electorate has become less trusting of the former Secretary of State, according to a Rassmussen Reports poll. Clinton recently handed over a blank server to the FBI when they requested a copy of her emails, and she evaded questions about the server when talking to reporters after an event in Nevada last week.
Forty-five percent of voters, but only 18 percent of Democrats, consider the questions raised by Clinton’s use of private email to be a “serious scandal.” An additional 28 percent of voters consider this to be an embarrassing situation for Clinton and the Democratic Party.
Other polls have shown Clinton being viewed as less trustworthy or struggling against the leading Republican presidential candidates in key swing states. Sanders now narrowly leads in the RealClearPolitics polling average for New Hampshire and at least one national poll he edges her among white Democratic voters.
Clinton and Sanders will both address the DNC summer meeting, as will lower-tier candidates like Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee. Biden will not be on hand.
The DNC summer meeting will begin Thursday.
