Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is leading a new Zogby Analytics poll by 33 percentage points, but that lead doesn't mask some concerns for her expected presidential campaign, says
pollster John Zogby.
"For starters, one in five Democrats [20 percent] is still undecided, meaning they are not convinced about a woman that has 100 percent name recognition," said Zogby, the chief executive officer of Zogby Analytics and founder of the Zogby Poll, said in an release.
Out of 1,349 likely Democratic primary caucus voters surveyed nationwide from March 3-5, 46 percent said they'd vote for Clinton. That lead was followed by 13 percent who would vote for Vice President Joe Biden; 9 percent, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren; 4 percent, California Gov. Jerry Brown; 3 percent, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; 2 percent each, HUD Secretary Juan Castro and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar; and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, with 1 percent each.
Overall, one in five voters remained undecided.
Remaining at under 50 percent is "mainly good news" for Clinton, said Zogby.
"It is probably best that she is not polling over 50 percent because that may set a bar that ultimately is too high to achieve and the media loves to play the 'expectations game' in the early rounds of the contest," he said. "She also leads among every category of Democratic voter and so she is clearly the person to beat."
However, the poll also shows that, when combined, her opposition is scoring 35 percent of the voters, "which essentially puts the referendum on Mrs. Clinton already at 46 percent to 35 percent." One serious challenger could emerge, Zogby said, and "scarf up that 35 percent and only need to do a slightly better than even split among the undecided voters to make this competitive."
The poll also reveals "possible trouble in Progressive-land" for Clinton, said Zogby, as she only received 44 percent of the liberal vote, versus 47 percent among the other candidates combined, with 9 percent undecided.
And her numbers among "First Globals," or voters born between 1979 and 1996, showed Clinton got just 38 percent, compared to 47 percent among the other candidates and 15 percent undecided.
On Tuesday,
Zogby told the Newsmax TV program "America's Forum" that the growing email scandal involving
Clinton's use of private email accounts while serving as secretary of state is already impacting her numbers.
There have is a faction of Democrats who question "who [Clinton] is and what she represents," Zogby said Tuesday, and the left wing of the party may be "are looking around and looking for somebody else and they're sort of bypassing Mrs. Clinton in terms of credibility."
The Clintons are well-known for their ability to "withstand the heat, and the heat is just beginning to be turned on," Zogby said Wednesday about the poll numbers.
But like in 2008, when then candidate Barack Obama challenged Clinton for the Democratic nomination, a credible challenger still has the potential to make a case against her campaign, said Zogby.
The difference is, in 2008, Clinton "looked a lot more fired up and ready to charge back then than she does today," he said.