Poll: Hillary Clinton takes commanding early lead in Iowa for 2016

For those already tired of the 2012 presidential election, take note: Polling for the 2016 Iowa caucus has begun. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose repeated dismissals of future campaigns have done little to diminish speculation of another presidential run, blows the speculative Democratic competition out of the water in a new Public Policy Polling survey. The Republican field, on the other hand, is significantly more scattered.

Clinton, whose surprising loss in Iowa during the 2008 primaries was the first step in President Obama’s path to the White House, leads all of the presumptive candidates with 62% of Democrats preferring her if she chose to run. Vice President Joe Biden, who has made several runs for the presidency in the past, is a distant second with 14%. An overwhelming 88% of Iowans have a favorable opinion of the former New York senator and first lady.

Hopes and rumors that Clinton will revive her presidential aspirations, obviously evident in the U.S., have even followed her to India, where she participated in a town hall Monday during her state visit.

“I’m very flattered, but I feel like it’s time for me to kind of step off the high wire,” she told one participant asking about her presidential possibilities.

If Mitt Romney doesn’t take the White House this year, and thus does not become the nearly inevitable Republican presidential nominee in 2016, a number of well-known GOP figures could vie for the nomination, but none cast a shadow over the competition the way Clinton does.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Romney’s chief primary rival, Rick Santorum, top the list with 16% each, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie takes 15%, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sarah Palin are tied at 10%, while Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) all have at least 5%.

The remaining Democratic candidates mentioned in the poll failed to even reach double digits, with Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo taking 4%, former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold and Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer taking 2%. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley ended up with 1% of the vote, while Virginia Sen. Mark R. Warner took 0%.

Public Policy Polling’s results were obtained May 3-6, with 346 Republicans and 335 Democratic Iowans polled. The margins of error for the two groups were plus or minus 5.3 and 5.4 points, respectively.

For the full results of the poll, click here.

morgan.little@latimes.com

Original source: Poll: Hillary Clinton takes commanding early lead in Iowa for 2016