In general, American voters believe that Joe Biden would make a better commander in chief than Hillary Clinton despite that the vice president has not officially launched a presidential campaign.
According to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday, 38 percent of all likely U.S. voters believe Biden would make a better president than Clinton, while only 29 percent think the reverse. One third of voters remain undecided.
Biden has yet to rule out a presidential run, and recent reports suggest that the vice president and his advisers have started actively exploring a bid as Hillary Clinton’s favorable and honesty ratings continue to fall. In fact, Biden’s late son Beau allegedly urged his father to run for the White House in 2016 before he died of brain cancer in May.
It would be Biden’s third attempt at the presidency; he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1988 and 2008.
While their confidence in Biden trumps that which they have in Clinton, voters generally don’t believe that Biden should make a third bid for the White House. Thirty-six percent of likely voters believe Biden should run, while 46 percent say the opposite.
Among likely Democratic voters, the sentiment is largely the same, with 40 percent thinking Biden should enter the race and 45 percent disagreeing.
Liberal voters are also more likely to select Clinton is the better eventual president than Biden.
Nevertheless, focus around a potential Biden run has intensified as the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton’s use personal email continues to mount.
Currently, the FBI is probing the security of the former secretary of state’s email system, an investigation that is said to be criminal, in the wake of revelations that messages contained on Clinton’s private server held classified information from multiple U.S. intelligence agencies.
Strong majorities of American voters view Clinton as not trustworthy and unconcerned with their needs and problems. Clinton is currently enjoying her worst net favorable rating ever.
Meanwhile, her competitor Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) is surging.