Eight years after narrowly losing out on the party’s nomination for president, Hillary Clinton is again the Democrat to beat.
40% of PA Democrats are already backing Clinton for the nomination, leaving Bernie Sanders – at 22% – with a mountain to climb before April’s primary, according to a recent PPP Poll.
All is not lost for the Vermont Senator though, as PA’s Democratic Party will award its 117 delegates proportionally to the popular vote.
Vice President Joe Biden places third in the poll – as he continues to ponder a third presidential run – with 20%. Former RI Senator and Gov. Lincoln Chafee outperformed former MD Gov. Martin O’Malley and former VA Sen. Jim Webb by picking up 3% support in the Keystone State.
Lawrence Lessig also topped Webb, having stepped away from Harvard Law School in September to run on a platform of campaign finance and electoral reform legislation.
Biden jumping into the race would help Sanders enormously, as 39% of Biden supporters have Clinton as their second choice. Only 18% of PA Dems would switch their vote from Biden to Sanders, according to the poll. After reallocating Biden’s votes, Clinton leads Sanders 48-26, down from 63-14 in May.
Clinton also stands to pick up many of the voters switching from other candidates once they drop out, according to the poll.
Surprisingly, Clinton does better among “very liberal” and “somewhat liberal” Democrats than Sanders, leading 48-35% and 42-20% respectively.
Though Clinton has been dealing with favorability and trust issues with voters across the country, 61% of Democrats surveyed said they see Clinton in a positive light. The VP was the most popular, racking up a 70% favorability rating, while Sanders will look to get his rating up from 47% over the next six months.
Public Policy Polling surveyed 416 Democratic primary voters from October 8th to 11th. The margin of error is +/-4.8%.
Loading ...
11 Responses
This poll was taken before the Democratic debate. Clinton does not have the lead this writer claims any more.
Thank you PPP for including Lessig in the poll. DNC: Let Lessig Debate!
Lessig for President!
Diano, there is no party registration in Vermont. Or Arkansas for that matter. Howard Dean wasn’t a registered D, and nor was Bill Clinton. Stop raising nonsensical non issues.
Jerry Policoff-
“All the democrats agreed”? I didn’t.
If he wants to run in the primary for a party, he should be a member of that party.
After he declared, he did backtrack and say be would change registration if a state primary required party affiliation.
http://www.pressherald.com/2015/05/03/bernie-sanders-backtracks-on-party-registration/
undecided-
Says yet another anonymous poster. Clearly I’m real and you are the figments.
HaHaHa-
Just the GOP candidate in the debate.
sanders does not have to change his Party registration Mr. Diano. Do you ever do any homework??? First of all he can’t because Vermont does not permit registration by Party, and second of all because the Democrats have agreed that he can run as a Democrat.
undecided, you win with that post. Well done.
Joe Biden is a good man and will decide his entry into the campaign would hurt the Democratic Party. So, NO, he should not run. Just help Hillary and ____ beat whomever the GOP fishes out of their cesspool.
I think David Diano is a figment of the deepest parts of our collective id that somehow gained consciousness and the ability to post on politicspa.
Diano, how many people will Shrillary have killed in order to get elected?
“Vice President Joe Biden places third in the poll – as he continues to ponder a third presidential run – with 20%.”
No. Biden watched the debate. He’s out (not that he was ever in).
Some are calling for Biden to acknowledge he’s not running and just endorse Hillary.
Also, has Sanders even changed his party registration yet?