Poll: Clinton Leading 2016 Race

Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding a lead of 6 to 1 over others in the Democratic Party heading towards the 2016 campaign for the presidency. The field in the GOP is divided without any clear-cut frontrunner. This is according to a new poll released by ABC and the Washington Post.

Clinton clearly defeated her potential rivals in the Democratic primaries with 73% of the Democrats and independents that are Democratic leaning choosing the former first lady.

The results just reinforce the support she would receive if she decides to run. Second on the list of Democrats was current Vice President Joe Biden who had 12%, while third was Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren with 8%.

Although the favorability rating for Clinton has dropped since she stepped down as the U.S. Secretary of State last year, she has broad support amongst the Democrats across gender, ethnic, class and ideological lines.

The Republican race for the presidential nomination is by contrast still wide open. Six possible candidates have between 10% and 20% support. None of the candidates has any broad backing from mainline Republicans and tea-party activists, which signals a possible fracture amongst the party when a standard-bearer is chosen in 2016.

Last year, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey was close to or at the top of the GOP field in a number of opinion polls, but it appears the “Bridgegate” scandal has caused him problems politically.

This new survey has Christie with 13% support of Republicans and independents that are GOP leaning, which is third. Leading the pack is Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan, with 20% and Jeb Bush the former Governor of Florida with 18%. Others include Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

Amongst the strong backers in the tea party, which is only 20% of the Republicans polled, Cruz holds a big lead with 28%. However, Cruz, who rose to prominence last fall during the government shutdown, has only 4% support amongst those who have no opinion or are opposed to the tea party.

Christie is the weakest amongst the tea party supporters, but has the support of 15% of other GOP voters.

The support for Bush comes from the self-identified Republicans.