If Hillary Clinton runs, which Republican has the best chance of beating her?

[Joe Biden 2020]

If she runs, she will likely win the nomination.  Which Republican currently has the best shot to beat her to the White House?

Would it be Rubio? Bush? Christie? Someone else?

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Christie, easily. He's the only one with any shot at all - against her, at least.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Christie, easily. He's the only one with any shot at all - against her, at least.

Yup.

[Consciously Unconscious]

Depending on the economy, I think any of those three could beat her.

[BluegrassBlueVote]

Depending on the economy, I think any of those three could beat her.

Bush? No. He'd struggle with O'Malley.

Christie is the answer, and he doesn't need the perfect economic conditions to do it.

[Lincoln Republican]

I'll tell you who has no chance.

Santorum.

[Blue3]

The polls say Christie is the only one who comes close.

[Mister Mets]

The strongest potential  Republican nominees against any candidate seem to be Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Susanna Martinez, Brian Sandoval, Jon Huntsman and Kelly Ayotte.

I don't know how well Christie's brash demeanor would play when he's on a debate stage with a 68 year old woman.

There may be better optics with Marco Rubio, who would also allow voters to pick between two milestones, rather than the first female President and a white guy. Plus, he would be able to seize the "new" mantle.

Kelly Ayotte is pretty good at hiding her conservatism, someone who can appeal to primary and general election voters. And it means that a vote for the Republican would also be the vote for the first female President.

Jon Huntsman might be better at seizing the change mantle, appealing to dissatisfied Obama voters.

Susanna Martinez would be a bigger milestone than HRC, and has some interesting contrasts in her background. She can be a strong contender in the Western swing states. As a prosecutor turned small-state Governor, she hasn't really been involved in major controversies. She may not be ready to run as a presidential candidate, but the primary would likely stop her if that was the case.

[TDAS04]

Christie, but Hillary would still have the advantage.

[HansOslo]

It’s definitely Christie. He might be able to expand the playing field for the GOP into Democratic leaning states like Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and New Jersey.

[Bull Moose Base]

The polls say Christie is the only one who comes close.

The most recent PPP national has Christie only slightly more competitive than other Republicans in Hillary match-ups.

[publicunofficial]

Chris Christie

[morgieb]

Christie. I'd give him a 30-60% chance of winning depending on economic conditions.

Rubio needs a poor second term from Obama to have a shot. The others don't really have a shot.

Of course, a lot can change.....

[The Mikado]

Romney 2016.

[bballrox4717]

Susana Martinez, with Christie as a respectable second depending on the type of campaign he runs.

Bush can't win because of his name and the gender gap between Hillary and Rubio would be the largest ever recorded, effectively killing any chance he has at the presidency. Ayotte is good VP material, but is generic R otherwise. Sandoval is in the same league as Ayotte but would lose Republican voters because he's pro choice. Huntsman is the type guy who says all of the right things for a general election and governs well, but his 2012 campaign sucked. Even if he did improve his campaign skills, he moved too far to the left to win a Republican primary. He couldn't beat Lee in Utah right now.

[Lincoln Republican]

Romney 2016.

You, sir, are an absolute genius.

[bedstuy]

Christie and it's not even close. 

He's the only Republican with charisma, name recognition and appeal to moderates.  He's the only candidate I would be at all afraid of on the Republican side. 

[Mr. Morden]

He's the only Republican with charisma, name recognition and appeal to moderates.

Anyone who wins the nomination of either major party for president is inevitably going to have near universal name recognition by election day.

[Liberalrocks]

Christie,

But...... I doubt the GOP could accept him as their nominee due to tea party influence and anger over his embrace of Obama during Sandy.

I also think that he could prove to be more of a loose cannon on the national scene then what is being realized today.


Sandoval might run strong but I still see Clinton in that scenario too.

[HAnnA MArin County]

I agree. It's gotta be Christie, but I think she will still win, regardless.

Christie, however, stands no chance at getting the GOP nomination. Remember, he said something nice about the Kenyan socialist communist Obama (and touched him!), which automatically makes him a RINO now. Don't forget that he didn't even get an invitation to CPAC but the flip-flopping severely conservative Mitt Romney did? That shows you what their base thinks of him. Republicans are sincere voters, not strategic voters. I think that's what really separates the two parties nowadays in our ever increasingly polarized politics.

Kelly Ayotte? Seriously? Her poll numbers have taken a large drop after her vote against the background checks. Sure, 2016 is a long time away and the issue will more than likely forgotten about by then, but I'm sure the backlash will come back to bite her in the ass and she will have an uphill race trying to defend that vote to keep her seat. Even if she runs and gets the nomination, Hillary will annihilate her in the general election and will more than likely even carry New Hampshire, a state that will always have a special place in Hillaryland.

[Mr. Morden]

Christie, easily. He's the only one with any shot at all - against her, at least.

I'm guessing that if you posed a similar hypothetical here in 2005, "What Democrat could beat John McCain in 2008?", you'd get a lot of people saying that McCain had such strong crossover appeal that only a really strong Democrat like Bayh or Warner would have a chance against him....that someone more polarizing, like Hillary Clinton, would have very little chance against him.

Actually, I don't have to wonder about that, because here are Bayh vs. McCain and Warner vs. McCain threads from 2005:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=21881.0

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=31490.5

I voted McCain/McCain, but meant Warner/McCain.  No one could beat McCain in the general election.  The political center loves the guy.  He would set record numbers with moderates and indy's.

McCain/McCain, nobody can beat him if he gets to the general election and he'd probably win Virginia and a couple of other states as well on nomo's map.

Oh, and a Clinton vs. McCain thread from 2005:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=21205.0

And BRTD and Joe Republic thought that Clinton vs. McCain 2008 was a ridiculously implausible matchup:

pointless thread, this matchup is about as likely as opebo converting to Islam.

Agreed.  The sad fact is that I expect as soon as this one falls off the first page, another one with the same two candidates will pop up again.

It came within a few thousand Iowa caucus votes of happening, guys. 

[Vosem]

A governor from a left-leaning state. Christie is the obvious answer, but Sandoval/Martinez/I think even Walker would all have at least a shot. Most of the Senators who are possibilities (Rubio/Ryan/Ayotte?) are too fresh to have a chance without something going very wrong. Corbett, lePage, and Snyder I exclude; Corbett will probably lose, lePage seems likely to get a second term now but only due to the divisions of the left in Maine, and Snyder's future remains quite murky -- I think some of our Michigan members have speculated he may not seek reelection.

But it's important to keep in mind that a week is an eternity in politics, and there are (rounding up) 184 weeks left until the election. Everything can change in 184 eternities -- for all we know, Ryan/Snyder will be beating Clinton by double-digits.

[illegaloperation]

It's definitely Christie, but he doesn't have any realistic chance of winning the Republican presidential primary.

[ShadowRocket]

Christie. Though I think Rubio could if the political environment becomes hostile to the Dems.

[Mechaman]

Everyone and their grandmother seems to think that Hillary is invincible come Election Day.

Need I remind everybody that it is currently May 8th, 2013?  A lot can and, if the previous eight years are indication, will happen before Election Day 2016.

As far as I'm concerned, any Republican candidate short of the lunatic fringe has the possibility of beating Hillary Clinton in 2016.  Right now though my guess for "best chance" would be either Susanna Martinez or Chris Christie.