With the usual caveats that the only poll that matters is 19 months away, this has to be bad news for the occupants of the Republican candidate clown car:
In general, Republicans see Bush as the best possible candidate to match up against the Democratic nominee in 2016, but in hypothetical general election matchups against Clinton, Bush trails by a large margin, as do each of the other seven Republicans tested.
Marco Rubio fares best against the former first lady, trailing Clinton by 14 points, 55% to 41%. Bush trails Clinton by 17 points, 56% to 39%. Christie and Paul fall 19 points behind Clinton, each putting up 39% to Clinton's 58%. Huckabee, Walker, Carson and Cruz each trail Clinton by more than 20 points. (our emphasis)The closest margin is 14 percent. Wow. (Can't resist musical editorial.)
Of course, as we note below, the Republican smear machine is just getting ginned up. Numbers like these only ensure that the attacks will be desperate, loud, long and especially scurrilous. But they're dealing with someone who's used to getting smeared by the far right, and who knows how to throw a punch with the best of them.
BONUS: A reminder of the "competition." And here's how Beltway Horse Race Wanker Demeritus Mark Halperin breathlessly rates them.
