Washington ( CNN ) -- A new national poll in the battle for the 2016 Democratic and Republican presidential nominations indicates what you would expect : Hillary Clinton is the overwhelming Democratic frontrunner , and there 's no real leader among the possible GOP White House hopefuls . But if you get beyond the obvious , the CNN/ORC International survey released Monday becomes more revealing . It showed 65 % of Democrats and independents who lean toward that party say they would likely back Clinton as their presidential nominee . Vice President Joe Biden comes in a distant second , at 10 % , with freshman Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 7 % , New York Gov . Andrew Cuomo at 6 % , and Maryland Gov . Martin O'Malley at 2 % . The CNN survey is in line with previous polls from other organizations conducted earlier this year that indicated Clinton , who has not said whether she 'll run , is far ahead of all the other possible Democratic candidates . Hillary Clinton : Syria weapons handover would be 'important step ' Even though the next race for the White House is a long way away , there 's already intense speculation over whether the former secretary of state will make a second bid for president . As with previous surveys this year , the new CNN poll also indicates no GOP frontrunner . Seventeen percent of Republicans and Independents who lean toward the GOP say they are likely to support New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie , with 16 % backing Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin , the House Budget Committee chairman and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee . Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is at 13 % ; former Florida Gov . Jeb Bush at 10 % ; Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 9 % ; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas at 7 % , and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania , a 2012 Republican presidential candidate who battled eventual nominee Mitt Romney deep into the primary season , at 5 % . Opinion : A reversal for GOP and Democrats . Rubio 's number stands out . The first-term senator , considered a rock star among many Republicans , registered in the upper teens in polls of the possible GOP 2016 horserace conducted by other organizations earlier this year . But Rubio 's support of immigration reform -- he was a high profile member of a bipartisan group of senators who pushed immigration reform passage through the Senate this spring -- may have hurt his standing with many conservative voters opposed to such efforts . Santorum 's 5 % is also interesting . `` It 's often said -- and it 's usually true -- that polls taken years before the first presidential primaries are mostly tests of name recognition . But clearly ( it 's ) something more than name recognition when it comes to Santorum , '' says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland . `` Santorum is well-known to GOP voters -- he had months of national exposure in the 2012 primaries , and since the start of the modern primary system in the 1970s , the GOP has tended to nominate the candidate who was the runner-up the last time the party had an open race for the nomination . But Santorum is not just in the middle of the pack -- he is currently running dead last out of the eight candidates tested , '' adds Holland . Santorum : The U.S. has no national security interest in Syria . Christie may be on top of the list , but he 's not first in the minds of conservatives , who dominate more moderate Republicans in the GOP primaries and caucuses . According to the poll , only 8 % of Republicans who consider themselves conservatives say they would be likely to back Christie , compared to 28 % of self-described moderate Republicans . In the potential Democratic battle , the survey indicates Clinton performing better with women ( 76 % ) than men ( 52 % ) . And Biden scores higher with voters age 50 and older ( 18 % ) than those younger than 50 ( 5 % ) . Biden : House Republicans 'Neanderthals ' With the start of the primary and caucus calendar more than two years off , take this survey and others with a grain of salt . `` Polls taken two to three years before an election have absolutely no predictive value , '' adds Holland . `` Do not treat this as a prediction of what will happen in 2016 . '' Biden courts presidential speculation with Iowa trip . The CNN poll was conducted by ORC International September 6-8 , with 1,022 adult Americans questioned by telephone . The survey 's overall sampling error for Democratic and GOP primary questions is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points . The sample included 218 respondents who describe themselves as Republicans and 234 who describe themselves as independents who lean towards GOP , for a total of 452 Republicans , and 311 respondents who describe themselves as Democrats and 137 who describe themselves as independents who lean Democratic , for a total of 448 Democrats .
Biden distant second to Hillary Clinton in a new poll on 2016 presidential nod . The poll also indicates no frontrunner for the 2016 GOP nomination at this point . Seventeen percent of Republicans and left - leaning independents likely to support Chris Christie . But the poll also indicates problems for Christie with conservative voters ; Rubio number drops .