One of the things Clinton supporters (such as me) say is that Clinton is not only more competent and experienced, but electable. She’s been in the spotlight a quarter century yet despite the huge attacks, still does well. She also doesn’t call herself a “socialist.” Sanders supporters would try to attack that by claiming that her unfavorables (not job approvals) were too high and that sometimes, Sanders polled better than HRC. They also argued that once people got to know him, he’d do even better.
Here are empirical data to bear out the truth.
General Election: Trump vs. Clinton |
PPP (D) |
Clinton 46, Trump 43 |
Clinton +3 |
General Election: Cruz vs. Clinton |
PPP (D) |
Clinton 45, Cruz 43 |
Clinton +2 |
General Election: Rubio vs. Clinton |
PPP (D) |
Rubio 44, Clinton 43 |
Rubio +1 |
General Election: Carson vs. Clinton |
PPP (D) |
Clinton 45, Carson 45 |
Tie |
General Election: Bush vs. Clinton |
PPP (D) |
Clinton 44, Bush 39 |
Clinton +5 |
General Election: Trump vs. Sanders |
PPP (D) |
Sanders 41, Trump 43 |
Trump +2 |
General Election: Cruz vs. Sanders |
PPP (D) |
Sanders 41, Cruz 42 |
Cruz +1 |
General Election: Rubio vs. Sanders |
PPP (D) |
Sanders 39, Rubio 42 |
Rubio +3 |
General Election: Carson vs. Sanders |
PPP (D) |
Sanders 41, Carson 41 |
Tie |
General Election: Bush vs. Sanders |
PPP (D) |
Sanders 41, Bush 42 |
Bush +1 |
Clinton beats 3 out of 5 and ties one. Sanders loses to 4 out of 5 and ties one. Sanders does worse against Rubio, and both tie Ben Carson.
The point: Bernie’s barely been in the GOP crosshairs; he doesn’t exist to them CURRENTLY. If he were to be the nominee, those numbers would get worse. Hillary’s been in the spotlight for nearly a quarter century and even today, when Obama has middling approvals (not below 40% where Dems are fucked but not above 50% where pop vote win is virtually guaranteed) and GOP has more media time, she’s STILL winning!