Most Americans are nervous or scared about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is dominating Bernie Sanders, but makes most Americans nervous

(Image credit: Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

last updated 10 December 2015

There's good news and bad news for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in a new national New York Times/CBS News poll, partly released Thursday morning. Trump got his highest numbers in the poll, leading the Republican presidential field with 35 percent support, versus 16 percent for nearest rival Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and 13 percent for Ben Carson. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) earned 9 percent, and the rest of the GOP candidates were at 4 percent or less. On the Democratic side, Clinton led nearest rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) by 20 percentage points.

However, most Americans said they were concerned with both frontrunners: 40 percent of respondents expressed fear and 24 concern about a President Trump, while 34 percent were scared and 23 percent concerned about a President Hillary Clinton. Clinton's lock on the nomination seems more secure than Trump's, however, with 54 percent of Democratic primary voters saying they have made up their minds versus 64 percent of Republicans who say they are still not settled on a candidate. The poll, of 1,053 registered voters, was conducted Dec. 4-8, mostly before Trump proposed to ban all Muslims from visiting America. It has a margin of error of ±4 points for registered voters and ±6 points for primary voters.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.