Despite a general decline in popularity and mixed reviews for her book tour this year, Hillary Clinton remains the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic nomination — although Sen. Elizabeth Warren could make for a formidable opponent.
Aside from Warren, Vice President Joe Biden appears to be the only real contenders at the moment to unseat Clinton’s status as a Democratic favorite for the White House in 2016. A full 63 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have said they will vote for her in their state primaries or caucuses, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, a Post report stated.
Biden, meanwhile, is receiving 14 percent of the vote, Warren is getting 11 percent, and three other candidates — Vermont Sent. Bernie Sanders, former Virginia senator Jim Webb, and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley — are splitting 5 percent of the vote.
The 49-point lead is Clinton’s worst of the year, however. Clinton’s support was 69 percent in June, so support has dropped 8 percentage points since then. It marks a drop of 10 points over the course of four surveys in 2014, although there were only three candidates before.
The lead she enjoys is certainly larger than the one she had in 2008 when she was facing a popular new face in Sen. Barack Obama, who ultimately surged past her. Her lead is the biggest for any non-incumbent since the 1980s.
Comparatively, the Republican race is very tight. Neither Mitt Romney nor Jeb Bush have gotten past 20 percent.
Clinton’s lead is likely to dwindle as more candidates officially throw their hats in the ring and the race becomes more competitive as donors commit their campaign dollars. Clinton herself hasn’t even declared her candidacy yet. However, she is still the odds-on favorite to win the party’s nomination.
