Swing-state poll shows Biden's appeal In hypothetical pairings, he performs as well or better than Clinton against the top GOP candidates.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sit atop their respective parties’ primary polls in the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. Since 1960, no presidential candidate has won without taking at least two of these three states.

But in hypothetical general-election matchups in all three states, Vice President Joe Biden performed as well or better than Clinton against the top Republican candidates, outpacing even The Donald. (Biden has not made a decision on entering the race, though speculation has been hot in recent weeks.)


Then again, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio polled better against Clinton, Biden or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders than did Trump.

Matched against Bush in a general election in Ohio, Clinton got 41 percent, while the former governor received 39 percent. Against Rubio, Clinton received 40 percent compared with the Florida senator’s 42 percent. In a hypothetical head-to-head against Trump, Clinton had 43 percent to his 38 percent.

Meanwhile, Biden drew 42 percent to Bush’s 39 percent, and 42 percent to Rubio’s 41 percent. Against Trump, Biden prevailed 48 percent to 38 percent.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders trailed Bush, 42 percent to 36 percent, and Rubio, 42 percent to 34 percent. Against Trump, Sanders got 42 percent to the billionaire’s 40 percent.

In Florida, Clinton trailed Bush 49 percent to 38 percent, she trailed Rubio 51 percent to 39 percent.

Pennsylvania voters backed Bush 43 percent to 40 percent over Clinton. Rubio earned 47 percent to Clinton’s 40 percent, but Clinton came out on top over Trump by a count of 45 percent to 40 percent.

Biden runs closely with Bush in Pennsylvania, leading 43 percent to 42 percent, matched against Rubio, Biden gets 41 percent to the senator’s 44 percent. Against Trump, Biden picks up 48 percent to 40 percent.

Trump and Clinton lead the way despite having some of the lowest favorability and trustworthiness ratings among registered voters in all three states polled, though the ratings improve when the two are just polled among their respective parties. Still, Democratic voters in all three states recorded higher net favorability ratings for Biden than they did for Clinton. Trump is around the middle of the pack in net favorability among GOP voters.

Clinton is the only candidate with worse honesty ratings than Trump in all three states, with just 32 percent each finding her honest and trustworthy in Florida and Pennsylvania and 34 percent in Ohio. Trump, meanwhile, earned the trust of just 39 percent of voters in Florida, 37 percent in Ohio and 40 percent in Pennsylvania.

In terms of net favorability in Florida, Clinton is at -18 points, while Trump is -14 points; in Ohio, Clinton is again under, at -18 points, with Trump at -22 points; in Pennsylvania, Clinton is at -17 points, while Trump is at -21 points.

Leading in those states among all registered voters are former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina in Florida (+23 points), Gov. John Kasich in his home state of Ohio (+28 points) and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in Pennsylvania (+24 points).

Among Florida Democrats, Clinton grabbed 48 percent, followed by Sanders at 15 percent and Biden at 11 percent, while 17 percent remain undecided.

Even among Florida Republicans, Trump led the way with 21 percent, beating their former governor Bush with 17 percent and 11 percent for Rubio and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

In Ohio, Democrats backed Clinton with 47 percent, followed by Sanders at 17 percent, Biden at 14 percent and 12 percent undecided. Buckeye Republicans, meanwhile, supported their home-state Gov. Kasich, with 27 percent to Trump’s 21 percent. Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz both picked up 7 percent, with other candidates below 6 percent and 8 percent undecided.

Pennsylvania Democrats went for Clinton with 45 percent, followed by Sanders at 19 percent and Scranton’s own Biden at 17 percent, with 12 percent undecided. Trump—a graduate of UPenn’s prestigious Wharton School — earned top marks among the state’s GOP voters, with 24 percent, followed by Carson with 13 percent and 10 percent for Rubio. Other candidates earned 7 percent or less in the state, with 9 percent undecided.

The polls were conducted via live interviews on landlines and cellphones from Aug. 7-18 in the three states.

In Florida, 1,093 registered voters participated, with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, including 477 Republicans with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points and 345 Democrats with a margin of error of 5.3 percentage points.

In Ohio, 1,096 registered voters participated, with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, including 371 Republicans with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.1 percentage points and 353 Democrats with a margin of error of plus or minus 5.2 percentage points.

In Pennsylvania, 1,085 registered voters participated, with an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, including 443 Republicans with a margin of error of 4.7 percentage points and 462 Democrats with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.