Though Hillary Clinton hasn't announced her candidacy, she's considered the clear front-runner for the 2016 Democratic nomination for president. But who will take up the mantle if she doesn't run?
According to a new CNN/ORC International poll, Joe Biden is in a solid position to fill her shoes. Without the option of supporting Clinton, the vice president garnered 41 percent support among Democrats and left-leaning independents.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, beloved among progressives, trails Biden by double digits, with just 20 percent support, while New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Sen. Bernie Sanders of New York took 7 percent each. Former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, the only politician who has made any real moves to join the race, got 3 percent support.
Although these polls are good measures of where the electorate currently stands, they aren't always indicative of the race's outcome—a test nearly two years away. In the run-up to the 2012 election, various Republican candidates had their 15 minutes at the top of the polls before eventually flaming out. A year before that race, business mogul Herman Cain led the pack, with 27 percent support. That snapshot didn't end up being quite as prescient as he would've liked.