Washington: Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has emerged as the frontrunner for the 2016 presidential race, according to a new survey. The latest Fox News poll asks the simple question, "Would this person make a good president?" Out of a dozen potential 2016 candidates, the top two picks are the two former secretaries of state, Democrat Clinton and Republican Condoleezza Rice.
Clinton, 65, who recently quit the state department, has not yet announced her intention to again run for the White House. She is the only one who garners a positive response from a majority of voters.
The new poll, released on Wednesday, finds 55 per cent think she would be a good president, up from 50 per cent who thought so in 2006. For 58-year-old Rice, 43 per cent of voters say she would be good. That's down from 47 per cent when the question was last asked in 2006.
Clinton and Rice are followed by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (37 per cent), Wisconsin Rep Paul Ryan (37 per cent) and Vice President Joe Biden (35 per cent).
About a quarter of voters think former Florida Governor Jeb Bush (26 per cent) and Florida Senator Marco Rubio (25 per cent) would be good occupants of the Oval Office. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (16 per cent) and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (16 per cent) also received double-digit support.
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell (6 per cent), Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick (6 per cent) and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (5 per cent) are mostly unknown to voters nationally.
Overall, Biden and Bush are the candidates who have the largest number of voters saying they would not make a good president (59 per cent and 56 per cent respectively).
Clinton (62 per cent) and Rice (44 per cent) capture more support among women voters than any of the other figures tested.
They are also the top picks among men voters: 47 per cent think Clinton would make a good president and 42 per cent feel that way about Rice. Ryan (40 per cent), Christie (39 per cent) and Biden (35 per cent) are close behind among men.
Clinton is also the candidate who receives the highest level of support from his or her own party. She would be a good president in the eyes of 83 per cent of self-identified Democrats, while with 62 per cent support Ryan receives the most backing among self-described Republicans.
Among Democrats, Clinton is followed by Biden (60 per cent), Cuomo (25 per cent), Patrick (8 per cent) and O'Malley (6 per cent).
Among Republicans, Rice comes in second to Ryan at 54 per cent. She's followed closely by Bush at 47 per cent, Christie at 43 per cent and Rubio at 41 per cent. Jindal is the only other Republican to receive double-digit support (24 per cent).
Ryan (59 per cent) and Rice (55 per cent) both receive majority backing among self-described very conservative voters.
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