… For about half of Americans, the question “Who would you vote for: Hillary Clinton or Scott Walker?” is effectively “Who would you vote for: Hillary Clinton or some Republican governor?”
Many Republicans will choose “some Republican governor” over Clinton no matter what. But if national elections are swung by independent voters (who may or may not exist in practice, but that’s another story) we can’t really know if independent respondents in the CNN poll are picking Clinton because they like her, or because they’re more familiar with her.
Research suggests that when voters don’t know much about candidates in a given race, name recognition sways electoral choices. CONT.
Brian Resnick, National Journal
Recent polls: Presidential preference