By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor PUBLISHED: 10:55 EST, 3 April 2013 | UPDATED: 14:18 EST, 31 December 2013 In a new Quinnipiac University poll, Florida Senator Marco Rubio leads a tightly clustered field of Republican presidential hopefuls among registered GOP voters. But Republicans are clearly at a point of limited popular support. The muddled field doesn't suggest a successful race in 2016 for Republicans, said Peter Brown, the assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 'The Republicans are more disliked than Democrats,' Brown said. 'The Republican brand is essentially in the toilet these days.'
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Democratic presidential candidates are favored by 43 to 35 per cent
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61 per cent of Republicans chose socially conservative candidates
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Chris Christie, widely considered electable, attracted only 14 per cent
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Republicans have no clear favorite as Hillary Clinton topped them all
Brown said that in the 1980s, the Democrats were in a similar situation to what faces @placeholder today.