Says the new Quinnipiac poll:
March 7, 2011 - U.S. Voters Have Warmest Feelings For Michelle Obama, Quinnipiac University National Thermometer Finds; Christie Is Hottest Politician, Topping President
First Lady Michelle Obama gets the warmest rating, with a 60.1 degree mean score, more than 3 degrees hotter than fourth-place President Barack Obama, when American voters rate their feelings about politicians and other national figures in a Quinnipiac University national thermometer poll released today. New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie is the hottest politician on the thermometer.
At 59.2 degrees, former President Bill Clinton is second place on the thermometer scale by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll.
Gov. Christie is third with 57 degrees, topping President Obama who gets 56.5 degrees. But 55 percent of American voters don't know enough about Christie to form an opinion.
Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives and now the Democratic leader in the Republican-controlled body, gets the coolest rating from voters. Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid ranks next lowest and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin ranks third from the bottom.
Among Republican voters, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty gets the hottest score among 2012 GOP presidential contenders. American voters don't fire Donald Trump, but they're not fired up about him, ranking him 16th in a field of 23 people.
"New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie has ruled out running for president next year despite the urging of many Republicans, but he has clearly made a positive impression on the American people, at least the half who are familiar with him," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "It is important to remember that this measure is not any kind of presidential trial heat, but it does reflect how voters feel about national figures, including politicians."
The Quinnipiac University poll asked voters to rate leaders from 0 to 100 degrees on a "feeling thermometer," with the highest numbers reflecting the warmest feelings. The mean scores and the percent who said they did not know enough about the people to rate them are:
Michelle Obama 60.1 degrees 4 percent
President Clinton 59.2 2
Christopher Christie 57 55
President Obama 56.5 0
Rudolph Giuliani 52.3 13
Mike Huckabee 51.8 22
John Boehner 51.1 41
Mitt Romney 50.4 23
Tim Pawlenty 48.2 67
Jon Huntsman 47.9 84
Ron Paul 46.3 34
Michael Bloomberg 46 35
Michelle Bachman 45.6 55
Mitch McConnell 45.2 48
Mitch Daniels 45.1 78
Donald Trump 45 5
Rick Santorum 43.9 63
President George W. Bush 43.9 0
Haley Barbour 43.5 65
Newt Gingrich 42.7 17
Sarah Palin 38.2 4
Harry Reid 34.8 37
Nancy Pelosi 32.9 15
From February 21 - 28, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,887 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.3 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1564
