How the GOP Candidates Can Survive the Trump Show
Many Americans don’t think much of the top presidential contenders, according to a new poll by Quinnipiac University.
Asked to give the first word that came to mind when each candidate’s name was mentioned, the results were often negative. Regarding former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, 178 voters said the first word they thought of was “liar,” 123 said “dishonest” and 93 said “untrustworthy.” Then came some positive assessments: 82 said “experience” and 59 said “strong.”
Regarding billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump, 58 said “arrogant,” 38 said “blowhard,” 35 said “idiot,” 34 said “businessman,” and another 34 said “clown.”
Regarding former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, 136 said “Bush” – an apparent reference to the fact that both his father and brother have been president. Seventy said “family,” 53 said “honest,” 45 said “weak,” 41 said “brother,” and 40 said “dynasty.”
Quinnipiac asked 1,563 voters these questions and tabulated the descriptive words that were used at least five times.
The poll also found that Trump is still the Republican front-runner nationally with support from 28 percent of GOP voters, up from 20 percent July 30. This was the widest margin for any Republican so far in the 2016 election cycle, according to Quinnipiac. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson had 12 percent, with 7 percent each for Bush, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Everyone else in the race was far behind.
Trump also generated the most negative assessments, as 26 percent of GOP voters said they would definitely not support him, followed by Bush with 18 percent.
Clinton led the Democrats with 45 percent support, down from 55 percent July 30. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont had 22 percent and Vice President Joe Biden, who is still considering whether to run, had 18. Clinton topped the Democrats’ “no way” list with 11 percent, a Quinnipiac spokesman said.
Source:: usnews.com