Clinton could be competitive in Alaska

Add Alaska to the list of states where Hillary Clinton, at least for now, might be competitive if she runs for President in 2016. Our new poll there finds just one point separating Clinton from two of the leading potential candidates for the GOP- she leads Marco Rubio 44/43 and trails Chris Christie 43/42. Clinton has a 47/45 favorability rating in the state, including 53/38 with independents.

It's not a match up likely to occur but Clinton would destroy Sarah Palin in a hypothetical match up in the state, 53/37, including a 62/25 lead with independents. There's no appetite among Alaskans for Palin 2016- only 16% think she should run to 78% who think she should not, and even among Republicans just 18% would like to see her make a bid.

To put into perspective just how poorly thought of Palin is in Alaska now, consider this: Congress has an 8% favorability rating in the state. But asked whether they have a higher opinion of Congress or Palin, Alaskans pick Congress by a 50/34 margin.

Other notes from Alaska:

-Long time Republican Congressman Don Young has a 50/40 approval rating. In a hypothetical contest against 2010 Democratic Senate nominee Scott McAdams he would lead 54/37. Doesn't look like he should be in too much trouble next year.

-Lisa Murkowski is one of the most popular Senators in the country with 54% of voters approving of her to 33% disapprove. She pulls the rare feat of having majority approval from Democrats (59/25), independents (52/33), and Republicans (51/38). The only other Senator who manages that in our polling is Susan Collins. It's also interesting to note that Murkowski's strongest numbers come with Democrats.

-Alaska voters aren't on board yet with same sex marriage, but they're pretty strongly supportive of at least civil unions for gay couples. 43% of voters in the state think gay marriage should be legal to 51% who still think it should be illegal. But 67% support some form of legal recognition to just 30% who think there should be none at all.

Full results here

Comments

[D.H.Fabian]

Alaska has been on a rightward stroll for some time now. If you would review her stands on issues ranging from NAFTA to repealing poverty relief, I think you would find that H. Clinton has quite consistently also been on a rightward stroll. In general, the ideology of Palin and Clinton are similar, although Clinton is not as entertaining.