November 27, 2006 - More Americans Think Well Of Speaker Pelosi, Quinnipiac University National Thermometer Finds; President Is Low On List, But Kerry Is Last
House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, who ranked last in Quinnipiac University's quarterly reading of voter sentiment about national leaders September 5, has dramatically improved her standing. But the new Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid, still remains at the bottom in a survey released today.
Republican presidential contenders, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Ariz. Sen. John McCain, and potential Democratic aspirant Sen. Barack Obama continue to get the highest ratings in the latest "thermometer reading" of national leaders by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts ranked last, while President George W. Bush was 15th out of 20.
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 - 100. Speaker-elect Pelosi's rating has jumped from a 34.7 mean temperature in September to 46.7, slightly behind New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's 49.
"In September, most Americans did not know enough about U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and those who did didn't like what they knew. Now, perhaps because everyone likes a winner, she has increased her standing with the American people. And only about a third of Americans say they don't know enough about her to have an opinion," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
"Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the incoming Senate Majority Leader, moved up slightly over the same period, from 37.9 to 41.2 and ranked 19th out of 20," Brown added.
The mean scores for each politician with the percentage not knowing enough about the individual to rate him or her:
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)
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)
