MOSCOW, December 8 (Sputnik) – Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton runs ahead of her Republican Party would-be rivals in an early look at the 2016 presidential elections, a Bloomberg Politics poll released Monday revealed.
"Greater numbers of Americans view her [Hillary Clinton] as a strong leader, who has a better vision for the future, shares their values, and empathizes with their concerns," the poll, conducted on December 3-5, says.
The poll participants were asked whom would they vote for "if the next general election for president were held today." Compared with Republicans Jeb Bush, Chris Cristie, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Mitt Romney, Clinton leads them by more than eight percentage points in favorability on becoming the next US president.
As for the advantages of Hillary Clinton as a possible future president, 77 percent considered her servitude as Secretary of State as an advantage. Other factors viewed as advantageous by those taking part in the poll were her marriage to Bill Clinton (67 percent), her work in the federal government (78 percent) and her previous presidential campaign (60 percent).
"Her image and reputation with voters has been defined, and in some ways redefined, by her service as Secretary of State, where voters saw someone who was a strong leader in representing out country," Geoff Garin, Democratic polling expert who worked for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
"If she runs, she comes to this election in much better shape then [sic] she did in 2008," Garin added.
Earlier on Sunday, former US President George W. Bush stated that he wants his brother Jeb Bush to run for president in 2016 and that Jeb would win, beating Hillary Clinton in the elections.
