CNN Poll: Jeb leaps in front as candidate with ‘right experience to be president’

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Jeb Bush is at the top of the latest CNN 2016 presidential poll — and brace yourselves because there will be a gazillion more between now and November 2016 — but a couple of things jumped out.

Here are the candidate rankings that have Jeb at the top with Walker five points behind:

Governor Jeb Bush 17%
Governor Scott Walker 12%
Senator Rand Paul 11%
Senator Marco Rubio 11%
Governor Mike Huckabee 9%
Senator Ted Cruz 7%
Dr. Ben Carson 4%
Governor Chris Christie 4%
Governor Rick Perry 3%
Governor Rick Santorum 3%
Governor Bobby Jindal 2%
Governor John Kasich 2%

When poll participants were asked which candidate had the experience to be president, Jeb came out on top again, topping his nearest competition — Walker — by double digits, and besting his former mentee Rubio by a margin of 4-to-1:

Bush 27%
Walker 15%
Huckabee 7%
Paul 7%
Rubio 7%
Christie 6%
Cruz 5%
Carson 3%
Kasich 3%
Perry 3%
Jindal 2%
Graham 2%
Pataki 2@
Santorum 1%
Fiorina 1%

Interestingly, over the weekend pollster Frank Luntz asked attendees at a New Hampshire event whether they wanted a governor or senator for the presidential nominee. The response was amazing. A few hands went up for senator but everyone else — more than 100 — indicated they wanted a candidate with gubernatorial experience. Governor Bush fills that bill.

CNN noted that Jeb was the top candidate across the board in a number of categories:

Bush’s edge in the nomination contest extends across several attributes viewed as key to winning the presidency. He is most often named as the candidate with the right experience to be president (27%), as the one with the best chance of beating the Democratic nominee in the general election next November (26%) and as the strongest leader in the large field of GOP contenders (21%). He is also more often seen as the candidate with the clearest vision for the country’s future (19%), who cares the most about people like you (18%), and who most closely shares your values (19%).

It is also interesting that both Jeb and Rubio are tied at 18 percent as the candidate who best represents the future of the Republican Party. That sounds to me like Jeb, 62, did a very good job mentoring Rubio, 43.

It is still early in the game and, although Hillary is polling well, she is the only declared Democratic candidate. Any number of issues on the horizon could squash her numbers and encourage other Democrats to step into the race.