Interesting New Poll

Via PoliticalWire, I discovered this new poll and analysis from Quinnipiac University. Surveying nearly 1900 people in what they're calling a "Thermometer" survery, Quinnipiac "asked voters to rate leaders from 0 to 100 on a 'feeling thermometer,' with the highest numbers reflecting the warmest feelings."

The full results are here, but the top ten mean scores are quite interesting:

- Rudy Giuliani: 63.5
- Barack Obama 59.9
- John McCain 59.7
- Condi Rice 57.1
- Bill Clinton 56.1
- John Edwards 50.8
- Mark Warner 50.7
- Hillary Clinton 50.4
- Russ Feingold 49
- George Allen 48.6

George W. Bush got a 44.1 temperature; Cheney's was 41.

Importantly, these temperatures don't take into account the number of voters who said they felt unable to rate the contenders: 59% said they couldn't rate Obama, for insance, while only 13% couldn't rate Rudy and only 2% couldn't rate Hillary Clinton.

Quinnipiac polling center assistant director Peter Brown said of the results "Not only do Mayor Giuliani and Sen. McCain get the best ratings, but their numbers are uniform across the country. There is less than a 1 percent difference in their ratings between the red, blue and purple states." Bush, in contrast, received a 49.2 in red states, 41.2 in blue states, and 40.2 in purple states (defined for this study as "12 states in which there was a popular vote margin of 5 percentage points or less in the 2004 Presidential election").

You can get breakdowns for each contender by gender, region, and political party on the poll page.

Perhaps what should disturb us most is that not a single current political leader reaches room temperature.



Bush had a