Rise of the anti-establishment presidential candidates
Donald Trump and Ben Carson, two non-politicians, are racing ahead of the GOP pack. Bernie Sanders is up 10 points from July while Hillary Rodham Clinton has sunk by 21 points on the Democratic side. But Democrats are far more interested in electing an experienced politician than Republicans, who prefer someone from outside the system. Potential voters see flaws in Trump and Clinton, with majorities saying each candidate is not honest and trustworthy.
Washington Post-
ABC News Poll
POLL
Q:
If the Republican/Democratic primary or caucus in your state were being held today, for whom would you vote?
Among registered Republican leaners …
JULY
SEPT.
0
20
40%
Donald Trump
33%
Ben Carson
20%
Jeb Bush
Marco Rubio
Ted Cruz
Rand Paul
Mike Huckabee
John Kasich
Scott Walker
2%
Carly Fiorina
Rick Perry
Chris Christie
Bobby Jindal
Rick Santorum
George Pataki
Other/no opinion
Among registered Democratic leaners …
JULY
SEPT.
0
30
60%
42%
Hillary Clinton
Bernie Sanders
24%
Joe Biden
21%
Martin O’Malley
Jim Webb
Lincoln Chafee
Other/no opinion
Note: Jim Gilmore and Lindsey Graham each
received less than 0.5 percent in both months.
Q:
When thinking about the kind of person you’d like to see as the next president, which of these is more important to you?
All
Democratic-leaning
Republican-leaning
Someone with experience
in how the political system works
30
50
70%
Someone from outside
the existing political establishment
10
30
50
70%
No opinion not shown.
Q:
Regardless of whether or not you'd vote for him, do you think Donald Trump is or is not qualified to serve as president?
Is qualified
37%
Is not qualified
60%
No opinion
2%
All
20%
78%
2%
Democrats
37%
61%
2%
Independents
64%
35%
2%
Republicans
Q:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Hillary Rodham Clinton is handling questions about her use of a personal e-mail account while she was secretary of state?
No opinion
11%
Approve
34%
Disapprove
55%
All
12%
55%
33%
Democrats
31%
58%
10%
Independents
9%
83%
8%
Republicans
Q:
Please tell me whether this statement applies to:
Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton
Is honest
and trustworthy
Yes
Yes
35%
39%
56%
59%
No
No
Understands the
problems of
people like you
29%
46%
51%
67%
Has the kind of personality
and temperament it takes
to serve effectively as president
33%
41%
56%
63%
Q:
If the 2016 presidential election were being held today and the candidates were Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democrat, and Donald Trump, the Republican, for whom would you vote?
Other/
no opinion
11%
Clinton
51%
Trump
39%
Among
all adults
Among
registered
voters
46%
43%
12%
Note: Numbers may not total 100 percent
because of rounding.

POLL
Washington Post-ABC News Poll
Q:
If the Republican/Democratic primary or caucus in your state were being held today, for whom would you vote?
Among registered Republican leaners …
JULY
SEPT.
0
20
40
60
70%
Donald Trump
33%
Ben Carson
20%
Jeb Bush
Marco Rubio
Ted Cruz
Rand Paul
Mike Huckabee
John Kasich
2%
Scott Walker
Carly Fiorina
Rick Perry
Chris Christie
Bobby Jindal
Rick Santorum
George Pataki
Other/no opinion
Among registered Democratic leaners …
JULY
SEPT.
42%
Hillary Clinton
Bernie Sanders
24%
21%
Joe Biden
Martin O’Malley
Jim Webb
Lincoln Chafee
Other/no opinion
0
50
70%
Note: Jim Gilmore and Lindsey Graham each received less than 0.5 percent in both months.
Q:
When thinking about the kind of person you’d like to see as the next president, which of these is more important to you?
All
Democratic-leaning
Republican-leaning
Someone with experience in how the political system works
0
50
100%
Someone from outside the existing political establishment
No opinion not shown.
Q:
Regardless of whether or not you'd vote for him, do you think Donald Trump is or is not qualified to serve as president?
Is qualified
37%
Is not qualified
60%
No opinion
2%
All
20%
78%
2%
Democrats
37%
61%
2%
Independents
64%
35%
2%
Republicans
Q:
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Hillary Rodham Clinton is handling questions about her use of a personal e-mail account while she was secretary of state?
No opinion
11%
Approve
34%
Disapprove
55%
All
12%
55%
33%
Democrats
31%
58%
10%
Independents
9%
83%
8%
Republicans
Q:
Please tell me whether this statement applies to:
Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton
Yes
Yes
35%
Is honest
and trustworthy
39%
56%
59%
No
No
Understands the
problems of
people like you
29%
46%
51%
67%
Has the kind of personality
and temperament it takes
to serve effectively as president
33%
41%
56%
63%
Q:
If the 2016 presidential election were being held today and the candidates were Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democrat, and Donald Trump, the Republican, for whom would you vote?
Other/
no opinion
11%
Clinton
51%
Trump
39%
Among all adults
Among registered
voters
46%
43%
12%
Note: Numbers may not total 100 percent because of rounding.
SOURCE: This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by telephone Sept. 7-10 among a random sample of 1,003 adults. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish on land lines and cellphones. Overall results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; the error margin is six points among the samples of 342 Republicans and GOP-leaning independent voters and six points among the sample of 356 registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters. Sampling, data collection and tabulation by Abt-SRBI of New York. Full results and exact question wording and order are available at washingtonpost.com/polls. . GRAPHIC: Washington Post-ABC News Poll. Published Sept. 14, 2015.