Poll: Obama More Popular Than Any of the Top 2016 Candidates

[DonViejo]

The president is the only politician who was viewed more positively than negatively in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

BY ADAM WOLLNER

May 5, 2015 As American voters prepare to move on from President Obama in next year's election, a new poll suggests they actually like him better right now than any of his most likely replacements.

In the latest NBC/Wall Street Journal survey, pollsters asked whether people felt positively or negatively toward Obama and six candidates or potential candidates to replace him: Republicans Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker, plus Democrat Hillary Clinton. While 47 percent of adults said they viewed Obama positively compared with 40 percent who view him negatively, none of the 2016 candidates scored better than even.

Clinton broke even in the poll, with 42 percent viewing her positively and 42 percent viewing her negatively. And each of the Republican candidates—who also comprise the top-five most likely GOP nominees in Hotline's latest Presidential Power Rankings—had at least as many people viewing them negatively as positively.

That's not all great news for Clinton. The former secretary of State, who announced her candidacy for president on April 12, suffered a notable uptick in unfavorable views of her since NBC and The Wall Street Journal last tested people's opinions about her in March. At that point, 44 percent of Americans viewed Clinton positively and 36 percent viewed her negatively.

The Republican candidates are less-known and potentially have room to grow. More than half of people expressed no opinion about Rubio (22 percent positive, 23 percent negative) and Walker (15 percent positive, 17 percent negative), for example. At this point, 23 percent of people view Paul and Bush favorably, but 28 percent and 36 percent, respectively, have negative views of them. And Cruz had the widest spread between his positive ratings (17 percent) and negative ones (32 percent).

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http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/poll-obama-more-popular-than-any-of-the-top-2016-candidates-20150505?

[greatauntoftriplets]

1. Happy to hear that I'm not the only one who feels that way.

[Human101948]

2. He should run for a third term...

That would blow the minds of the Republicans.

[Cary]

3. This just demonstates that "conservatives" have successfully debased public service

They have debased government. They have debased unions. They have debased working people. They debase the poor. They debase lawyers. They debase climate scientists. They debase legitimate economic analysis. They debase science generally.

What do they never debase? Oligarchs.

[underpants]

4. Oh sure, this polls is released on Cinco de Mayo

because you know he is tight with the Mexicans (hola amnesty) and the other people down there who aren't REALLY "Mexicans" but they are like them anyway.

[LordGlenconner]

5. Wish he could run again

I'm okay with Hilary but the prospect of any one of the GOP candidates getting anywhere near the white house is chilling.

I'm pretty sure Obama could beat every one of them like a drum, too.