Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is losing steam in Florida, the largest swing state in the 2016 general election, a new poll shows. Quinnipiac University released a poll of Florida voters on Thursday which shows Clinton, the favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination, underwater in the Sunshine State. A solid majority of those surveyed -- 55 percent -- view her as unfavorable while 37 percent see Clinton in a favorable light.
Clinton now trails three of the top Republican presidential candidates in Florida. Former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., bests her in the poll 49 percent to 38 percent. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., does slightly better, beating her 51 percent to 39 percent. Businessman Donald Trump edges Clinton 43 percent to 41 percent.
Vice President Joe Biden, currently pondering entering the race, did worse against Bush but did better against Clinton than the other two Republican hopefuls. Biden leads Trump 45 percent to 42 percent and narrows the gap against Rubio even as the GOP senator leads 48 percent to 42 percent.
"Vice President Joseph Biden, who is spending his time in seclusion, contemplating whether to take on Secretary Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries for president, has some new information to consider," said Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll. "In head-to-head match-ups against the three leading contenders for the Republican nomination, he runs as well or slightly better than she does."
"Hillary Clinton's poll numbers are like a leaky faucet: drip ... drip ... drip," Brown added.
When matched against U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the leading Republicans are all ahead. Bush routs Sanders 54 percent to 35 percent while Rubio beats the Vermont senator 52 percent to 36 percent. Trump’s lead is narrower but he is still up 45 percent to 41 percent on Sanders.
The poll shows Trump can do major damage if he runs as a third-party candidate. In a three-way match-up, Clinton takes 37 percent with Bush right on her heels with 36 percent while Trump pulls 19 percent. Trump has left the door open to a third-party bid if he does not get the Republican nomination.
Clinton clearly has ground to make up in Florida. Almost two-thirds of Florida voters -- 64 percent -- say she is not honest and trustworthy while 32 percent say she is. A slim majority -- 52 percent -- say Clinton has strong leadership qualities but 46 percent disagree. A majority -- 55 percent -- think Clinton does not care about the problems of average Americans while 42 percent insist she does. Asked if Clinton has the right personality in case of an international crisis, 45 percent think she does while 51 percent say she doesn’t.
Biden gets mixed marks with 44 percent having favorable views of him while 43 percent do not. A majority of those surveyed -- 52 percent -- think Biden is honest and trustworthy while 40 percent say he is not. Almost half of those surveyed -- 48 percent -- think he does not have strong leadership qualities but 46 percent think he does. Almost half of those surveyed -- 49 percent -- think Biden cares about average Americans’ problems and 42 percent say he doesn’t. The same percentage -- 49 percent -- think Biden has the right personality to manage an international crisis though 45 percent say he doesn’t.
Sanders is upside down in Florida but also far less known than the other candidates. Only 28 percent see him as favorable while 31 percent view him in an unfavorable light. But he is seen as honest and trustworthy by 40 percent while only 23 percent say he is not. More than a third -- 34 percent -- see Sanders as a strong leader while 29 percent do not. Sanders also does better when asked if he cares about average Americans’ problems with 40 percent saying he does and 28 percent thinking he doesn’t. Only 32 percent think Sanders has the right personality to handle an international crisis while 30 percent say he doesn’t.
Trump is underwater with 50 percent of Floridians viewing him unfavorably while 36 percent see him in a favorable light. A majority -- 53 percent -- does not think Trump is honesty and trustworthy while 39 percent do. But Trump is seen by a solid majority -- 61 percent -- as a strong leader and only 35 percent think he isn’t. However, a majority of Floridians -- 55 percent -- think he doesn’t care about the problems of average Americans and 64 percent think he has the wrong personality to cope with an international crisis.
Bush still has some fans in the Sunshine State with 53 percent seeing him favorably and 39 percent viewing him unfavorably. Bush is seen as honest and trustworthy by 64 percent and only 28 percent say he is not. When asked if he is a strong leader, Bush does better than the other candidates with 72 percent saying he is while 22 percent disagree. A third of those surveyed -- 34 percent -- say Bush doesn’t care about the problems of average Americans but 61 percent say he does. Bush also does well when asked if he has the personality to lead in an international crisis, with 70 percent saying he does and only 23 percent disagreeing.
Rubio is seen as favorable by 52 percent and unfavorable by 35 percent. He does better when asked about being trustworthy with 58 percent saying he is and 30 percent saying he is not. Rubio is seen as a strong leader by 56 percent while 32 percent say he is not. When the survey turned to caring about average Americans, Rubio posted similar numbers: 56 percent say he does, 43 percent say he does not. The same holds true when asked if Rubio had the right personality to manage an international crisis: 55 percent say he does, 32 percent think he does not.
The poll of 1,093 Florida voters was taken from Aug. 7-18 and had a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
