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It doesn’t sound like many Americans are thrilled with their choices for president in 2016.
None of 11 specified hopefuls had a favorability rating of more than 50% in a new George Washington University Battleground Poll.
Many voters have never heard of most of the candidates.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has a 47% favorable rating, with 48% of Americans having an unfavorable impression.
The best-known Republican, Jeb Bush, did poorly — 35% favorable, 48% favorable.
At least people have heard of Bush. The pollsters reported
that “several Republican candidates have nearly evenly split
favorability ratings but face large percentages of the electorate who
have never heard of them.”
That group includes: Ted Cruz, 26%; Scott Walker, 47%; Marco Rubio, 26%; Rand Paul, 18%; Mike Huckabee, 16%; Carly Fiorina, 60%.
“These GW Battleground Poll results show that the American
electorate’s deep, broad and chronic pessimism about jobs and economic
security translates into across-the-board hostility toward the 2016
presidential candidates,” said Michael Cornfield, research director of
the GW Global Center for Political Engagement and associate professor of
political management.
He added:
“We asked registered voters whether they would consider voting for 11 different presidential candidates, declared and apparent, well-known and less well-known. In each and every case, more respondents said they would not consider voting for them than would. Campaigners face stiff suspicions and a preference for political effectiveness over ideological affinity.”
