As she reportedly lays the groundwork for an all-but-declared presidential run in 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton leads Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts by commanding margins in new polls testing Democrats’ preference for their 2016 presidential nominee.
In a head-to-head matchup, Mrs. Clinton leads Mrs. Warren, 62 percent to 22 percent, when respondents were asked who they would vote for if the 2016 Democratic presidential primary were held in their state today, according to a Rasmussen poll. Sixteen percent were undecided and 18 percent said they had not heard of Mrs. Warren.
Mrs. Warren has consistently rejected calls for her to enter the race from liberal activist groups, who say her populist broadsides against Wall Street and lobbying in favor of proposals like raising the federal minimum wage would be a welcome part of the party’s debate over a 2016 message.
But Mrs. Clinton led in every demographic in the poll, including liberal Democrats.
In a separate USA Today/Suffolk University poll out Monday, 51 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters named Mrs. Clinton as their preferred nominee, compared to 31 percent who were undecided and 5 percent who named Mrs. Warren.
Mrs. Clinton also won support from 57 percent of those who identified themselves as liberal or very liberal, the wing of the party seemingly most likely to opt for Mrs. Warren.
Polling ahead of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary contest also showed Mrs. Clinton with commanding leads before then-Sen. Obama announced his candidacy.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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