WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A poll indicated Wednesday that if former U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton runs for president her biggest challenge could come from a more conservative Democrat.
While the poll, conducted by CNN, finds Clinton an overwhelming favorite with 70 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independent voters saying they would support her if she mounts a second presidential bid in 2016, the split on the remaining Democrats is surprising.
Conventional wisdom has held Clinton's biggest liability in a potential primary is from the liberal wing of the party, where President Barack Obama found support to defeat her in their historic 2008 primary race.
Of the Democrats who said they would like someone other than Clinton, 15 percent said they wanted that candidate to be more conservative while just 10 percent said they wanted someone more liberal.
"The poll suggests that a majority of the anybody-but-Clinton Democrats are actually looking for a candidate who is more conservative than she is, not more liberal. Some progressive leaders have been trying to entice someone into the race to run to the left of Clinton, but maybe rank and file Democrats would respond more favorably to a candidate who runs to the right of her, at least within the confines of standard Democratic Party ideology," said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
The network did not say what the margin of error is for the survey, when it was conducted or how many people were queried.
