Already curious about the 2016 presidential election matchup? Well, early polling shows it might be a duel between Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio.
The outgoing Secretary of State and the Florida senator are the top Democratic and Republican picks, respectively, according to a survey from Public Policy Polling.
When asked who they would favor for the presidential nomination, 57 percent of Democrats would like to see Clinton.
Vice President Joe Biden was a far off second, with 16 percent of the votes. Andrew Cuomo, Elizabeth Warren, Martin O’Malley, Deval Patrick, Mark Warner, Kirsten Gillibrand and Brian Schweitzer were all in the single digits.
The pack is significantly closer on the Republican side, with Rubio capturing only 21 percent of the votes. Paul Ryan, Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie and Jeb Bush are all close on his heels, with percentages in the teens. Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, Susana Martinez and Rick Perry are in the single digits.
When it comes to a Democrat vs. Republican matchup, however, Clinton blows away Rubio and most of the rest of the GOP candidates. The closest battle would be between Clinton and Christie, with a 44 percent to 42 percent vote breakdown.
But, as PPP notes, the same characteristics that make Christie a standout in the general election could hurt his chances of getting the GOP nomination. His buddy-buddy relationship with President Obama and his outspoken criticism of Speaker John Boehner didn’t win him many friends in the Republican voting base.
Yet that same willingness to cross party lines makes him popular in the very blue state of New Jersey — and popular in the nation as a whole.
So if Republicans want to defeat the powerhouse of Hillary Clinton, they might have to change things up and select a more moderate Republican candidate.
