PHOENIX — Hillary Clinton edged out Donald Trump in a mock election poll Tuesday at the Consumer Bankers Association conference, winning 52% to 48%.
"I was relieved that Clinton won," said Alan McCabe, a senior vice president at Frost Bank who attended the conference. "Between Clinton and Trump, I'd vote for Clinton."
The poll of roughly 1,000 bankers at the annual conference awarded Clinton a squeaker victory, but 85% of bankers said they were uncomfortable with both picks and preferred an alternative.
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In almost any other election cycle, bankers would be celebrating the fact that a Republican candidate has emerged so far in front of the pack and would quickly fall in line behind him. But this has been anything but a normal election cycle, and there are a whole host of reasons that bankers will be at least as reluctant to embrace the outspoken businessman Donald Trump as the Republican establishment has been.
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Love him or hate him, Trump provokes strong reactions from much of the electorate, bankers included. His volatile temperament and penchant for showmanship have left many skeptical, but some see his business experience and dealmaking savvy as a positive.
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Many others outside the industry likely agree, analysts said.
"We could be looking at two of the most polarizing and negatively viewed candidates in history going up against each other in the fall," said Amy Walter, the national editor of the Cook Political Report. "The fight between these two candidates is putting us in uncharted territory."
Bankers were also asked how they would vote depending on vice presidential candidate choices. If Trump teamed with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie while Clinton chose Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as her running mate, bankers would elect a Trump-Christie ticket with 63% of the vote.
