• Home
  • Mail
  • Flickr
  • Tumblr
  • News
  • Sports
  • Finance
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Answers
  • Groups
  • More
Yahoo
    • Skip to Navigation
    • Skip to Main Content
    • Skip to Related Content

    Hillary Clinton biggest Democratic front-runner ever: poll

    Yahoo News•January 30, 2014
    Hillary Clinton Addresses National Automobile Dealers Association Convention
    NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 27: Former U.S. Seceratary of State Hillary Clinton speaks at the 10th National Automobile Dealers Association Convention on January 27, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. According to reports, Clinton said during a question and answer session at the convention that he biggest regret was the attack on Americans in Benghazi. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

    She still hasn't announced whether she's running for president in 2016, but Hillary Clinton is already the biggest front-runner ever for the Democratic presidential nomination, the Washington Post reports.

    According to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, Clinton leads Vice President Joe Biden by 61 percentage points — the largest margin in the history of the poll.

    The former first lady is tops among all possible candidates for the Democratic Party with 73 percent of those polled saying they'd vote for her. Biden, at 12 percent, is a distant second, while Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who some believe could challenge Clinton in a primary, gets 8 percent of the vote.

    "For any politician looking to take a flyer on challenging Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary," the Post writes, "these numbers will have a chilling effect on those ambitions."

    Among possible Republican candidates, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (20 percent) leads by just 2 percentage points over former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (18 percent) for the 2016 nomination. Scandal-plagued New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was once tabbed as a front-runner by some observers, sits in third place at 13 percent.

    Historically, though, a big preprimary lead doesn't necessarily mean a candidate is a lock for the nomination, much less the White House.

    In December 2006, Clinton led then-Sen. Barack Obama by 22 percentage points (39 to 17) among potential 2008 Democratic contenders. John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential candidate, was third (12 percent) in that poll, while former Vice President Al Gore (10 percent) was fourth.

    In 1999, Gore himself enjoyed a 37-point lead over former New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley for the Democratic nomination ahead of the 2000 presidential race.

    Still, the Post notes, Clinton "is a much larger favorite to be the nominee at this point in the 2016 process than she was at this same time (or ever) in the 2008 contest. And, while the hypothetical 2008 matchup showed three candidates — Obama, Edwards and Gore — with real followings immune from Clinton's frontrunner status, there is no one out there in 2016 that can make the same claim."

    The poll, in part, shows why oddsmakers think a Clinton nomination is practically inevitable.

    According to Oddschecker.com, a British website that tracks online bookmakers, Clinton is nearly a prohibitive favorite, with the odds of her gaining the Democratic nomination at 4 to 5.

    2016 Republican presidential primary poll

    • Paul Ryan 20%
    • Jeb Bush 18%
    • Chris Christie 13%
    • Ted Cruz 12%
    • Marco Rubio 10%
    • Rand Paul 11%
    • Other 2%
    • None of these 4%
    • Would not vote 1%
    • No opinion 9%








    2016 Democratic presidential primary poll

    • Hillary Clinton 73%
    • Joe Biden 12%
    • Elizabeth Warren 8%
    • Other 1%
    • None of these 2%
    • Would not vote 4%




    SOURCE: ABC News/Washington Post poll

    Popular in the Community

    • Bon Iver Slams Bruno Mars’ Grammy Wins: ‘You Absolutely Have to Be S—ting Me’

      567 reactions3%78%19%
    • Citroën C4 Picasso

      CitroënAnnonces
    • Trump announces decision to overturn Obama's decision to close Guantanamo Bay at State of the Union

      439 reactions8%68%24%
    • Watch live: President Donald Trump delivers his first State of the Union address

    • State of the Union: Obama’s broken promises

      3 reactions0%100%0%
    • Opéré et sorti le jour même ?

      Forum Action PubliqueAnnonces
    • Mike Huckabee Suffers Twitter's Wrath for Cheap Shot About Ruth Bader Ginsburg Skipping Trump's SOTU

      382 reactions6%63%31%
    • Angry over Israel, Trump tells Congress to give aid only to 'friends of America'

      2,983 reactions7%68%25%
    • Trump 'Cheats Like Hell' at Golf, Says LPGA Star, Who Questions His Business Acumen

      3,964 reactions4%63%33%
    • Promo 10Go = 10€/Mois

      RED by SFRAnnonces
    • Donald Trump booed in his first State of the Union after hitting out at 'chain migration'

      2,929 reactions5%70%25%
    • Kennedy SOTU response: 'Bullies may land a punch,' don't win

      3,502 reactions5%66%29%
    • 2018 State of the Union

      150 reactions7%63%30%
    • Impossible de rester de glace !

      SFRAnnonces
    • What a nationalized 5G plan would mean for Google, Comcast, Verizon and others

      28 reactions2%82%16%
    • Rep. Joe Kennedy responds to President Trump's SOTU

      63 reactions1%78%21%
    • Flake: 'I Have Confidence in the FBI'

      4 reactions0%50%50%
    • Vous roulez moins de 8000 km/an ?

      AxaAnnonces
    • Melania Trump's white State of the Union pantsuit might have a hidden meaning

      1,500 reactions8%66%26%
    • Bernie Sanders: I don't understand how the President can give a State of the Union and not mention climate change

      1,429 reactions4%72%24%
    • Exclusive: New Las Vegas Shooting Person of Interest Douglas Haig Says He Never Knew ‘Wacko’ Stephen Paddock

      29 reactions0%76%24%
    • Les français se ruent pour investir sur le Bitcoin

      CryptoMoney SecretsAnnonces
    • Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga sworn in as "the people's president" in mock inauguration

      111 reactions1%85%14%
    • Trump honors parents of MS-13 gang victims at SOTU

      12 reactions0%73%27%