Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson has a higher favorability rating than former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and every other potential 2016 presidential candidate, a new poll has found.
According to a
Gallup survey conducted March 2-4 of 1,522 adults, Carson had a 12 percent favorability rating compared to 11 percent for Clinton, who was in second place.
At the same time, Carson's familiarity rating is far lower than Clinton's at 28 percent compared to 89 percent, making Carson one of the three least known potential candidates of the 16 tested.
"The upside to being less known is many people don't dislike Carson, because they haven't been exposed to enough information to have a negative outlook. The polls also show that so few of the less well-known candidates this year start off with strongly positive net favorability,"
Jewish Political News and Updates said.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal also all have positive favorability ratings, albeit far lower than Carson's, but all are better known to the public.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry all have negative favorability ratings, but again, score far higher than Caron on familiarity, the poll found.
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