Poll: Trump could send Clinton to White House, just like ’92 | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Donald Trump could do to the 2016 general election exactly what Ross Perot did a generation ago – with a Clinton pulling away from a Bush and a wealthy business mogul drawing a surprisingly large share of the vote.

A new McClatchy-Marist poll finds Hillary Clinton leading every potential Republican rival one on one. And while her lead has narrowed over several, it expands greatly in a race against Jeb Bush if Trump decides to jump in as a third-party candidate, as he has suggested is possible.

The poll projects a virtual rerun of 1992. That year, husband Bill Clinton won the White House with 43 percent of the popular vote. President George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush’s father, came in second with 37.5 percent. Perot, running as an independent, got 19 percent.

This time, Hillary Clinton gets 44 percent, Bush gets 29 percent and Trump gets 20 percent, according to the poll.

The results come as the Republicans prepare for their first debate, Thursday in Cleveland, with Trump leading national polls of GOP voters. Should he fall short of winning the Republican nomination, which party insiders expect, Trump has opened the door to a third-party bid.

Trump would badly wound Bush, according to the nationwide McClatchy-Marist survey conducted July 22-28.

He would siphon votes from Republicans and independents, but not from Democrats. He’d get 28 percent of the Republican vote, while Bush would sink to 63 percent support from his own party. Meanwhile, Clinton would hold 86 percent of the Democrats.

While Trump gets praise for his candor, but even many who like him doubt he could win.

“Although Trump says a lot of what I think, his delivery mode and nasty disposition could hurt him,” said Troy Pitts of Fernandina Beach. “If he would learn how to tone it back and deliver his thoughts in a civilized manner that could help.”

Phil Gesumaria, from Homosassa, was inclined to back Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin because he’s not part of the Washington establishment.

Gesumaria’s not sure whether or not to take Trump seriously. “I like a lot of what he says. I’m not sure if he’s going to hurt the party or not. He scares me,” he said.

Democrats will paint Trump as “anti-immigrant, anti-this, anti-that. But if he gets the nomination, I’ll vote for him,” Gesumaria said. And he’d back him as a third party candidate.

The prospect of a three-way race scares Jackie Bender, a Republican from Ormond Beach.

“Oh, I hope not!” she said of that prospect. “That would mean that Hillary could win. Just shoot me!”

Without Trump in the general election race, Bush would get more than nine of 10 Republicans and would trail Clinton by 6 percentage points.

A Trump general election candidacy would be a huge boost for Clinton, whose support has ebbed somewhat in recent months as she’s had to defend her email use while secretary of state and has been criticized for a tightly scripted campaign style.

“This suggests it’s going to be a very competitive election,” said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion in New York, which conducts the poll.

Here’s how Clinton fares against the entire GOP field one on one:

– Leads Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky by 5 percentage points, 48 percent to 43 percent.

– Leads Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida by 5, 47 to 42.

– Leads Bush by 6, 49 to 43.

– Leads Walker by 7, 48 to 41.

– Leads former Texas Gov. Rick Perry by 7, 47 to 40.

– Leads Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas by 9, 49 to 40.

– Leads former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee by 9, 50 to 41.

– Leads retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson by 10, 49 to 39.

– Leads Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey by 10, 50 to 40.

– Leads Gov. John Kasich of Ohio by 10, 49 to 39.

– Leads former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania by 12, 51 to 39.

– Leads former New York Gov. George Pataki by 13, 50 to 37.

– Leads Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana by 16, 52 to 36.

– Leads Trump by 16, 54 to 38.

– Leads Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina by 17, 52 to 35.

– Leads former executive Carly Fiorina by 18, 53 to 35.

– Leads former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore by 21, 53 to 32.

Clinton has inched below 50 percent when matched up against leading Republican contenders. Combined with the smaller margins, the drops are significant because Clinton is already well known, while most of her challengers are not.

That means in the months ahead, the new candidates can define themselves for an electorate that may be wary of familiar names. Rubio, Paul and most other prominent Republicans will get their first big chance Thursday, when they debate for the first time. They’ll debate each month through the primary season.

Clinton, by contrast, is in the headlines for reasons not likely to boost her numbers. Thursday, McClatchy reported that classified emails stored on the former secretary of state’s private server had information from five U.S. intelligence agencies. It included material related to the fatal 2012 Benghazi attacks.

She’s also come under fire from the liberals who make up an important part of the Democratic base for not showing enough passion for their causes.

Victoria Halley, from Clearwater, said she’s comfortable backing Clinton. “She is a very bright lady and she tries to do her best at all times,” Halley said. “There’s one exception: I am not comfortable with the way this administration deals with immigration – I agree with Mr. Trump on that. However, that will not keep me from voting for her.”

In the match-ups against Republicans, Clinton continues to have strong backing from Democrats but lags among independents. Rubio and Paul both attract more independent supporters, while Cruz and Walker are close.

Trump is not. Clinton is far ahead of Trump, topping him among every constituency except Republicans.

In a three-way race the political ground shifts. Independents and Republicans move to Trump. He ties Bush among independents and takes about one in four Republicans.

More than half his Republican supporters are backers of the tea party, the independent grassroots movement that helped elect conservatives in recent years.

William Douglas, Corinne Kennedy and Emma Baccellieri of the Washington Bureau contributed.

CORRECTION. This version adds full name of Hillary Clinton to the first reference to her.