Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders on Wednesday celebrated a somewhat unrealistic poll that shows him leading potential Republican presidential candidates in a head-to-head matchup next fall.
According to Quinnipiac University poll published Wednesday, Sanders leads Donald Trump 49 percent to 41 percent, 47 to 41 percent over Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz by a 49 to 39 percentage margin. He also has a slim one-point lead (44-43) over Marco Rubio. The numbers are identical to Hillary Clinton’s edge over Republican presidential candidates.
“Bernie Sanders beats the most popular Republican White House hopefuls by margins as big or bigger than Hillary Clinton,” the Sanders campaign news release proudly announced.
Campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement, “The survey demonstrated Sanders’ remarkable strength as a general election candidate based on his enormous popularity among young voters, his standing as the most trusted candidate and his strength with independents. This is the latest evidence that Bernie is the most electable candidate the Democrats could nominate.”
Sanders also leads with independents over the GOP hopefuls, while Hillary trails candidates like Rubio and Carson.
“Bernie is generating the kind of excitement and enthusiasm needed for Democrats to retain the White House and elect more Democrats in Congress and state capitals,” Weaver opined.
The downside, however, is the fact that the poll shows Hillary beating Sanders by 30 points (6-30) among National Democratic voters. Hillary has an even larger lead among women voters – 65% vs. 23%.
Also, when asked is Sanders would have a good chance of defeating the Republican nominee in the general election for President, 55 percent of voters, including 39% of Democrats, think he stands no chance of winning.
The Quinnipiac poll also surveyed GOP primary voters. While Trump is still the frontrunner – with 27% of support – Rubio and Cruz are gradually moving up – now in a dead heat for 2nd place with 17-16 percent. Among voters who consider Foreign Policy to be the most pressing issue of the election (17% of GOP primary voters), Rubio leads the GOP field with 22 percent.
