Minnesota Senator would tank Clinton in General Election
Hillary Clinton selecting Minnesota Senator Al Franken as her Vice President would have disastrous results for her campaign according to a Monmouth University poll.
Franken potentially becoming the Democrats Vice Presidential candidate was first reported back in March. More recently though he polled the worst of Democratic candidates in five categories. He also polled worst of all potential candidates in both parties among self-identified conservatives.
Among all voters, Franken negatively impacts Clinton’s campaign by 9 points, compared to Julian Castro’s projected -7 percent net impact. Franken is also just behind Castro among net impact on moderates, costing Clinton 8 percent while Sanders would have a net 24 percent boost among independents.
30 percent of conservatives would be less likely to back a Clinton-Franken ticket, and only 5 percent would be more likely to back it, giving him a net score of -25.
In the same category, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ net score was -13, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s was -23.
Franken also has the smallest boost to Clinton among Democrats and Clinton supporters. Among third party and undecided voters Franken negatively impacts the Clinton campaign by 6 points, worst among all Democratic candidates.
As bad as Franken would be for the Clinton campaign, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be worse for Trump. The 2012 Republican Vice Presidential candidates would cost Donald Trump a net 29 percent of voters in 2016.
Minnesota’s Republican Presidential choice in Sen. Marco Rubio preformed the best among potential Republican running mates. The Florida Senator was the only Republican candidate with a projected net gain for the Trump campaign, picking up 7 percentage points. He also outperformed all other potential GOP VPs in every other category except one. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich performed the best among those already supporting Trump.
Senator Franken’s office did not respond to a request for comment by time of publication.
“If Hillary Clinton came to me and said, ‘Al, I really need you to be my vice president, to run with me,’ I would say yes,” Franken told the Associated Press.
Monmouth’s poll suggests Clinton may look elsewhere for a running mate.
