Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has a commanding lead in the hyper-early jockeying for the GOP presidential nomination in the Sunshine State thanks to his home turf advantage. The only problem: He trails Hillary Clinton there in a hypothetical 2016 matchup by a daunting eight-point margin, according to a Quinnipiac survey released Thursday.
In the poll, Bush leads the potential GOP field with 27 percent of the vote, followed by Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) at 14 percent, and Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) at 11 percent. Yet Clinton handily tops all of them — and every other GOP challenger paired against her — by anywhere between eight and 20 points.
As always, the usual caveat about the election being more than two years away still applies. Yet the leads Clinton is posting on the most well-known and well-liked GOP candidates in a crucial battleground state speaks volumes to why Republicans so fear a Clinton candidacy.