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Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders could give a boost to the Democratic party if presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton chose him as her running mate, while conservative commentator Sarah Palin could hurt the Republican party’s chances if she ran alongside Donald Trump, a new poll by Monmouth University published Thursday.
According to the survey aimed at testing the waters for six Democratic and six Republican hypothetical vice presidential candidates, Sanders was the only potential running mate who made a significant impact on Clinton’s chances.
A total of 39 percent of voters across the country said that they would be more likely to vote for her with her biggest rival on her ticket, nearly twice as many as the 20 percent who said they would be deterred with Sanders as her vice presidential hopeful.
Among undecided voters, half said that they would be more likely to support Clinton with Sanders as her co-pilot.
The Vermont Senator stood out among the other Democratic vice presidential candidates in the poll, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has been much discussed as Clinton’s potential running mate. A total of 51 percent said that Warren would have no impact on their choice of vote, 12 percent higher than the number who said Sanders would have no impact.
Sanders is in talks with Clinton and has said he is committed to making sure the Democratic party defeats Trump in the election, but he has not dropped out of the Democratic nomination race or offered an endorsement to the former secretary of state.
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The other Democratic candidates included the poll — New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Housing Secretary Julian Castro, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, and Senator Minnesota Al Franken — would have even less impact on Clinton supporters, with over 60 percent saying their candidacy for vice president wouldn’t affect their opinion.
Director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute Patrick Murray explained in a statement Thursday that the survey findings have a great deal to do with name recognition. He added that the organization’s polling usually finds that the best case scenario is that a vice presidential nominee can “help with a specific constituency or in a key state.”
On the Republican side, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was the only potential vice presidential nominee that stood out, but for the opposite reason that Sanders is in the spotlight. Just 13 percent of respondents said that Palin would make them more likely to vote for Trump, while 42 percent said that they would be less likely to do so.
Other Republicans on the poll were former Trump rival and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The Monmouth University poll, published under the title “Who leads in the veepstakes?” was conducted with 803 registered voters between June 15 and 19, immediately following the Democratic primary in Washington, D.C.
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