A Quinnipiac University poll released Friday gauges the nation’s warmth toward politicians. The poll of 1,623 registered voters nationwide, found former Republican New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani, Arizona Senator John McCain, and Illinois Senator Barack Obama, toward the top of the list of 20 politicians. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the Democrats choice for president in 2004, has plummeted to the bottom of the list and New York Senator Hillary Clinton who received a 49 mean temperature rating is still less popular then her husband who rounded out the top five with a 55.8 mean temperature rating. The survey, taken the week after the Democrats won back Congress, asks voters to rate the warmth of their feelings for leaders on a scale of 0 to 100. The last similar poll was taken in September.Keep reading to find out who made the list and where they placed.
Peter Brown, assistant director of the poll, said, “As we enter the presidential campaign of 2008, Giuliani and McCain clearly are in enviable positions. They are well regarded and most Americans are quite familiar with them. Obama’s showing is impressive, but four in 10 Americans still don’t know enough about him to have an opinion.”“Conversely, Sen. Clinton has universal recognition, but only mixed ratings,” Brown said. “Former President Clinton remains more popular than his wife and much better thought of by the American public than the current occupant of the Oval Office.” 1) Rudolph Giuliani – 64.2. (9) 2) Sen. Barack Obama 58.8 (41) 3) Sen. John McCain 57.7 (12) 4) Condoleezza Rice – 56.1 (7) 5) Bill Clinton – 55.8 (1) 6) Sen. Joseph Lieberman – 52.7 (16) 7) NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg – 51.1 (44) 8) John Edwards – 49.9 (20) 9) Sen. Hillary Clinton – 49 (1) 10) N.M. Gov. Bill Richardson – 47.7 (65) 11) Sen. Joseph Biden 47 (52) 12) Nancy Pelosi 46.9 (34) 13) Gov. Mitt Romney – 45.9 (64) 14) Former VP Al Gore – 44.9 (3) 15) President George Bush – 43.8 (1) 16) Sen. Evan Bayh – 43.3 (75) 17) Newt Gingrich – 42 (15) 18) Sen. Bill Frist – 41.5 (53) 19) Sen. Harry Reid – 41.2 (61) 20) Sen. John Kerry – 39.6 (5) Click here to see the rest of the polling results.
