The 2016 presidential election could very well end up being the most exciting election in recent memory. It could be even closer than the race in 2000 between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which was eventually decided by the Florida Supreme Court, which rightfully handed victory to the former Texas governor.
According to a newly released Quinnipiac poll, if elections were held today, neither Hillary Clinton nor Donald Trump would be able to win a majority of the electorate:
A titanic clash of the sexes leaves Democrat Hillary Clinton with a small 45 – 41 percent lead over Republican Donald Trump in the race for president, according to a Quinnipiac University National poll released today.
Fourteen percent remain undecided, which means the election could go either way.
When third-party candidates are added to the mix, it becomes an even closer race:
Clinton gets 40 percent with Trump at 38 percent, too close to call, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson gets 5 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein gets 3 percent.
Although the chances of former New Mexico Governor Johnson finally giving the Libertarian Party its all-important breakout moment are slim, this poll does show that he could spice things up a tad. Ironically, according to Quinnipiac, he takes more voters away from Hillary than from The Donald. Imagine what the Libertarians could’ve done if they’d nominated a candidate who actually appeals to constitutionalist voters as well.
Of course, they didn’t, because it’s much more fun for Libertarians to shoot themselves in the foot than to actually compete for the presidency.
But back to the poll. According to Quinnipiac, Hillary’s Democratic opponent, Bernie Sanders, would win the general with ease, which tells us either all we need to know about the ideology of the average American voter (welcome to the United Soviet States of America!) or about Americans’ lack of interest in the political process:
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont leads Trump among all American voters 48 – 39 percent, but trails Clinton among Democrats 53 – 39 percent.
You’d almost say: thank God for Democrats. They’re progressive, but not yet fully socialist.
Now imagine the following scenario: fed up with Hillary’s monopoly on superdelegates, Sanders decides to run as an independent. That would all but destroy Hillary’s chances of winning, while Trump would still not be able to top the 50 percent threshold. It’s already possible that none of the three candidates running (Hillary, The Donald, Johnson) will end up with a majority of the electoral vote. If Sanders throws his hat in the ring as an independent socialist candidate, there’s little to no chance of there being a clear winner. And that would hand the election over to the Republican-controlled Congress.
Sounds impossible to believe? Perhaps. But you can’t blame a guy for dreaming, can you?
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