Former President Donald Trump has continued to tease another run in 2024 at the same time his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, appears to be angling for a third White House bid herself, but a new survey indicates she would lose again.
Newsmax reports:
Hillary Clinton faces long odds in trying to win the Democrat presidential nomination for a second time, let alone the general election, according to a new McLaughlin and Associates survey.
Clinton, defeated by then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016, loses a rematch 51% to 41%, the McLaughlin poll found. That’s only slightly better (51%-40%) than Vice President Kamala Harris would do against Trump.
The McLaughlin poll taken Jan. 13-18 also found that Trump defeats President Joe Biden 49% to 44% in a 2020 rematch.
“Buyer’s remorse for President Trump is as strong as ever. President Trump dominates the potential GOP primary field,” Pollster John McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner.
As President Joe Biden’s approval ratings were tanking, Clinton reportedly met with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House in December.
“Since arriving in Washington, Ms. Harris has sought the counsel of other women — including Mrs. Clinton, the first female Democratic presidential nominee — who have achieved historical political success to help her find a path,” The New York Times reported.
“Her allies increasingly are concerned that while Mr. Biden relied on her to help him win the White House, he does not need her to govern,” the paper added.
In November, after meeting with Harris, Clinton proclaimed, “There is a double standard; it’s sadly alive and well. A lot of what is being used to judge her, just like it was to judge me, or the women who ran in 2020, or everybody else, is really colored by that.”
But since those meetings, the former first lady and U.S. senator who lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in 2008 has taken potshots at the Biden administration generally, with some opining that perhaps her meetings with Harris did not go as planned.
During an interview with NBC’s Willie Geist, which aired in late December, Clinton seemed to suggest the White House is not “stable” and “sane.”
“So what do you see as the state of the Democratic Party right now?” Geist asked.
“I think that it is a time for some, you know, careful thinking about what wins elections and not just in Deep Blue districts where a Democrat and a liberal Democrat or so-called progressive Democrat is going to win,” Clinton said.
“I understand why people want to argue for their priorities, that’s what they believe they were elected to do. So, look, I am all about having vigorous debates. I think it’s good and it gives people a chance to be part of the process,” she added.
Since then, Clinton has been increasingly mentioned as the Democratic Party’s best option, given both Biden’s and Harris’s falling approval ratings.
“Based on her latest public statements, it’s clear that Mrs. Clinton not only recognizes her position as a potential front-runner but also is setting up a process to help her decide whether or not to run for president again,” Democrat political advisers Doug Schoen and Andrew Stein wrote in The Wall Street Journal.
“If Democrats want a fighting chance at winning the presidency in 2024, Mrs. Clinton is likely their best option.”
But again, according to the McLaughlin poll, those conclusions are incorrect, Newsmax adds:
Biden has said he plans to run for re-election. In that scenario, Clinton receives just 7% of Democrat primary votes, the McLaughlin poll found.
Things aren’t much better for Clinton without Biden in the race. McLaughlin found that she has just 9% of the support of likely Democrat voters, the same as progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
The survey also found former first lady Michelle Obama and Harris outperforming Clinton (22% and 16% respectively).
“The new hope of a revived Hillary Clinton gets beaten by Trump, 51% to 41%, with Trump beating her among independents, 52% to 37%; among suburban voters, 52% to 39%; and taking 19% among liberals, 13% among Democrats, and 10% of Biden 2020 voters,” McLaughlin told the Examiner.
Trump, meanwhile, is still the preferred candidate among the vast majority of GOP voters.