Poll: Clinton or Sanders could beat Trump in general election

HAMDEN, Conn., June 1 (UPI) -- A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday shows either Democratic candidate could beat Republican Donald Trump in the race for president.

Hillary Clinton has a lead of 45-41 percent over the presumptive GOP nominee, while Sen. Bernie Sanders' margin is bigger at 48-39 points.

When third party candidates are added to the mix, Clinton gets 40 percent with Trump at 38 percent. Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson gets 5 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein gets 3 percent.

Clinton is still the clear favorite among Democratic voters, leading the Vermont senator 53-39 percent among her party's supporters.

The former Secretary of State is also viewed as being more intelligent than Trump (51 -37 percent) and having higher moral standards (47-36 percent). But the New York-based real estate developer is seen as being more honest and trustworthy (44-39 percent) and a stronger leader (49-45 percent).

Trump is also viewed as being more inspiring than Clinton (48-39 percent) and voters stated by 47-39 percent that they would rather invite the former Apprentice host to a backyard barbecue. But in times of crisis they would rather turn to Clinton (47-41 percent).

The sexes are split in their views of the two leading candidates. In a Clinton-Trump matchup, men go Republican 51-35 percent, while women go Democratic 54-30 percent.

"This is a very tight race that will divide Democrats and Republicans, the young and the old, white, black and Hispanic voters -- and husbands and wives -- in the months ahead," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"Sen. Bernie Sanders can take solace in the fact that he leads Donald Trump, but the cold hard truth is that his own party favors Hillary Clinton by a whopping 13 points.

"American voters don't like either one of the front-runners. The question could be who we dislike the least.

"Trump may be the guy voters want flipping burgers in the backyard and flipping companies in the board room, but when it comes to making deals in D.C. and stepping up to confront an international crisis, voters want Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office."

The poll was conducted between May 24 and 30, via land lines and cellphones. Altogether 1,561 registered voters nationwide were surveyed with a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points among all registered voters, and 3.8 percent among likely Democratic voters.