Survey finds a new Democratic front-runner for 2020
Voters want someone entirely new to run as the Democratic candidate in the 2020 presidential race, according to a new poll out Wednesday.
A Suffolk University/USA Today survey found that a majority of Democrats and independents were most interested in “someone new,” with 66 percent saying they were “excited” about that option when it was included in the list.
About 44 percent of Democrats and independents also identified Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as someone they were “excited” about in 2020, with 43 percent saying the same of Vice President Joe Biden, who weighed a bid for the White House earlier this year. About 34 percent said they were interested in Elizabeth Warren jumping into the race, while only about 23 percent said they would be excited to see Hillary Clinton, the party’s 2016 nominee, run again. About 62 percent of those surveyed, however, thought that Clinton should not launch a 2020 campaign. About 15 percent were indifferent to a Clinton bid in the future.
In a separate question, 39 percent of respondents said First Lady Michelle Obama should run for the elected office in the future.
The poll also took a look at President-elect Donald Trump and how he’s fared since winning the general election.
Mr. Trump has made little progress in uniting voters, with 38 percent of respondents saying they are “alarmed” by his inauguration into the White House next month. Another 38 percent feel “hopeful” for his presidency, while 16 percent are “excited.”
A majority of Americans also expressed concerns that the president-elect has neglected to do enough to avoid potential conflicts of interests between his real estate business empire and his role in the White House. And despite Mr. Trump’s hesitance in naming Russia as the source of hacking in the U.S. presidential election, nearly 62 percent of people surveyed said Congress and the new administration should investigate further Russia’s role. About 33 percent said they should not.
The Suffolk University/USA Today survey of 1,000 adults was conducted Dec. 14-18, 2016, with those who identified as registered voters. The margin of error for results based on the total sample is 3 percentage points. The poll had 626 registered voters who identified themselves as Democrats or independents, with that sample having a margin of error of 3.9 percentage points.