Wash Post/ABC News Poll: Carson Best Liked Of Hopefuls

Ben Carson may be facing criticism about his past statements, but he still remains the GOP candidate with the highest popularity ratings, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, with 71 percent of Republicans having a favorable opinion of him.

By the numbers:

Carson, 71 percent favorability;
Donald Trump, 69 percent;
Marco Rubio, 58 percent;
Jeb Bush at 56 percent;
Ted Cruz, 53 percent;

The poll did not ask about other candidates in the race. And among those who feel strongly about the candidates:

39 percent for Carson;
26 percent, Trump;
19 percent, Rubio;
18 percent, Cruz;
12 percent, Bush.

The ratings went beyond just Republicans in that the poll found 52-32 percent more Americans overall had a favorable view of Carson. His overall rankings have only been matched by Hillary Clinton in July, when she also reached 52 percent. The poll did not cover the entire period that Carson was under scrutiny, The Post points out,as it was only conducted from Wednesday through Sunday.

The poll may have marked an opening for Rubio as his 58 percent rating as one in five Republicans have no opinion of him and 22 percent have an unfavorable rating of him, showing his campaign still has room to grow.

Meanwhile, unfavorable opinions of Bush, at 37 percent, and Trump, at 38 percent, could suggest trouble ahead for them. Bush has not maintained voter support from more moderate Republicans, and Trump has nearly half the public, at 46 percent, having a strongly unfavorable view of him.

Trump's strongest unfavorable rates came from Hispanics, with 80 percent having an unfavorable view of him.

The poll was conducted of 1,023 adults between Nov. 4-8, and carried a margin of error overall of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points and of seven points among Republicans.

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