House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi takes first place once again being distinguished by Gallup as the best known and least liked congressional leader in either the House or the Senate. On top of that, Pelosi is also the most polarizing congressional leader.
Via Gallup:
The top Republican and Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate are a generally unpopular foursome, with Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi being the most well-known, but also the least well-liked. Thirty-one percent of Americans view Pelosi favorably and 48% unfavorably. Her resulting net -17 image score compares with -11 for Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, -10 for Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, and -8 for Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
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| Gallup- April 24, 2013 |
Pelsoi's polarization numbers are even worse according to Gallup:
Pelosi also rates as the most polarizing of the four congressional leaders, a distinction she also held the last time all four were rated, in May 2010. This is based on the finding that, compared with Boehner, Reid, and McConnell, she receives the highest favorable reviews from members of her own party as well as the highest unfavorable reviews from members of the opposing party.
More specifically, 62% of Democrats view Pelosi favorably, while 83% of Republicans view her unfavorably -- a 145-percentage-point spread. This compares with a 109-point spread for Reid, a 102-point spread for Boehner, and a 90-point spread for McConnell.
Over two years after Republicans took control of the House of Representatives with the larges turnover of seats from Democrat to Republican in over 60 years, removing Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House and replacing her with John Boehner, she is still better known, least liked and more polarizing.
The implication for the 2014 elections is that neither congressional caucus has a strong front man or woman to lead its party's midterm campaign. Given her popularity among fellow Democrats, Pelosi would appear to be the best messenger to help bring Democrats to the polls, but, if too visible, she might be even more effective at turning out Republicans, as may have been the case in 2010.
Republicans would be wise to highlight Pelosi when campaigning for the2014midterms when all House sets are on the ballot, and ask Americans if they want her as Speaker of the House again.
With Pelosi's dismal likability ratings, that should be very effective in turning out Republicans and turning off Independent voters that lean towards the Democrats.