By Glynn Wilson –

Joe Biden

While Vice President Joe Biden has only hinted that he might run for president against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows Biden might fare better against any of the Republicans in the general election than Clinton, who until recently was considered the runaway front runner.

If the presidential election were held today, for example, and the race came down to Biden versus Bush, Biden would win it 45 to 39 percent, according to this poll. On the same question, Clinton only leads Bush 42 to 40 percent. Biden would beat Trump 48 to 40 percent, while Clinton only leads Trump 45 to 41 percent.

Clinton still leads the field with likely Democratic Party primary voters at 45 percent, but she has dropped 10 points from a high of 55 percent back in July. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is now up to 22 percent in the polls, his highest number yet, while Biden stands at 18 percent even though he has not officially entered the race. No other Democratic candidate tops 1 percent, and only 11 percent of likely Democratic voters say they are undecided.

Donald Trump

Biden has the best favorability rating among top Republican and Democratic candidates, while New York real estate mogul and reality television celebrity Donald Trump has increased his lead in the crowded Republican field to 28 percent, up from 20 percent in July.

“This is the highest tally and widest margin for any Republican so far in this election,” Quinnipiac said in the release announcing the results.

“On the Democratic side, Secretary Hillary Clinton continues her slide while Sen. Bernie Sanders continues to narrow the gap,” Malloy said. “But the real news is the man who isn’t there – yet. Vice President Joseph Biden has the best appeal in general election matchups against top Republicans.

“Note to Biden: They like you, they really like you, or they like you more than the others,” Malloy said. “If he is sitting on the fence, his scores in the matchups and his favorability ratings may compel him to say, ‘Let’s do this.'”

Jeb Bush

African American doctor Ben Carson is now in second place in the GOP field with 12 percent of would be Republican voters, while former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is now tied for third at 7 percent with Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

No other Republican tops 6 percent, and only 11 percent of likely Republican voters are still undecided.

“Donald Trump soars; Ben Carson rises; Jeb Bush slips and some GOP hopefuls seem to disappear,” said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. “Trump proves you don’t have to be loved by everyone, just by enough Republicans to lead the GOP pack.”

Trump also tops the “no way” list, according to Quinnipiac, as 26 percent of Republican voters say they would definitely not support him. Bush is next down the list with 18 percent.

Hillary Clinton

Clinton tops the Democrats’ “no way” list with 11 percent, and when asked, “What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Hillary Clinton?”, the most frequently mentioned word was “Liar”. This is an indication that the smear campaign over the missing e-mails on the private server appears to be working, causing serious problems for her campaign.

By contrast, when asked the same question about Trump, voters came up with “Arrogant” and when asked the same about Bush, the only thing they could come up with is the name “Bush” and “brother.” Not a good sign for Jeb.