Out of all the Republican frontrunners, Donald Trump consequentially holds the best chances when it comes to competing with Clinton. Trump has recently focused his attention away from his Republican rivals, and has focused his criticism towards Clinton’s husband stating “he was one of the great abusers of women in the world”. Clinton may struggle against Trump because she can’t match his charisma and often lacks any emotional connection or ties with her supporters. If anything is clear from the current state of the election campaigns it’s that people are frustrated with the ‘same old politics’ and Trump offers a deal that Hillary will struggle to overcome.
Ted Cruz’s campaign has been targeting hard-conservative voters which recently lead to a comfortable victory in the New Hampshire primary. A recent Fox news poll which asked voters to consider Cruz vs Clinton in the general election reveals that only just 43% preferred Clinton. Ted Cruz currently polls first on foreign policy and national security amongst voters; this is crucial as these issues are the biggest talking points of the election. As former Secretary of State, Clinton will not fare well with voter’s concerns on foreign issues and many view her time in office as a disaster.
The “establishment” candidate Jeb Bush pulled out of the race recently after shaky debate performances and a campaign that lacked momentum when compared to his Republican rivals. His campaign came with a series of liabilities, foremost that Jeb hasn’t been in office for 8 years. His statement about undocumented immigrants coming to America illegally as an “act of love” damaged his campaign significantly. Even if he was still in the running, it would be unlikely that Jeb would have stood much of a chance against Hillary as the odds of gaining the republican nomination were minimal.
Marco Rubio is an exciting candidate in a weak field. Republicans like him as he is moderate on many positions, so he doesn’t alienate undecided voters with liberal leanings on social issues (abortion, civil rights, and religion). Rubio notably younger than his rivals and comes from a Hispanic background which is fairly poor. These factors are likely to strike a chord with a lot of voters and he certainly has a slight edge in select demographics against Clinton. Thus far Rubio has performed strongly in the South Carolina and Iowa primaries. Overall Rubio stands a formidable chance against Clinton if nominated as the Republican candidate.
