Ohio voters split on next president’s resumé

Democrats and Republicans in the battleground state of Ohio have vastly different views on whether their respective presidential candidate should have Washington experience. 

A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found voters are nearly split — 44 percent to 45 percent — on whether experience in the capital would be a presidential asset. 

{mosads}But looking deeper into the numbers, 61 percent of Republicans think a candidate without Washington experience would make a better president, while 63 percent of Democrats think the opposite. 

Independent voters are more evenly split. Forty-eight percent would prefer someone outside Washington, while 42 percent would want someone with D.C. experience. 

A number of Republicans have been calling for their next nominee to be picked from the nation’s governors. 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) — who hasn’t ruled out a run for the White House — has described the best contender as someone with a resume similar to his own. 

“I think it’s got to be an outsider. I think both the presidential and the vice presidential nominee should either be a former or current governor, people who have done successful things in their states, who have taken on big reforms, who are ready to move America forward,” he said recently. 

Similarly, House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has also asserted the next president should come from the pool of governors. 

“I’m a firm believer that I don’t think anyone should become president if they haven’t been a governor first,” he said earlier this month. 

Many of the GOP arguments have been directed at President Obama, who McCarthy accused of lacking an ability to work across the aisle. 

But the GOP has a number of potential presidential nominees currently in Congress — including Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) and Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.).

When asked about Walker’s comments last week, Cruz did not directly address the issue, saying “I like Scott Walker.”

“What I think the next president should be is someone who is leading the fight for free market principals and the constitution, someone who’s listening to the American people, not listening to the established politicians,” Cruz said at the time.  

According to the poll, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slightly trails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a potential 2016 matchup, while many other candidates trail Clinton by double digits. 

The poll surveyed 1,361 voters and has a 2.7 percent margin of error.