Story Highlights
- 49% say Biden, 44% Sanders have presidential leadership, personality
- Fewer say the same of Warren (39%), Trump (38%)
- Less than 50% agree with the four candidates on most important issues
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Fewer than half of Americans agree that President Donald Trump or any of the current top three Democratic presidential contenders have the personality and leadership qualities that a president should possess. Of the four politicians, Joe Biden (49%) and Bernie Sanders (44%) hold an edge over Elizabeth Warren (39%) and Trump (38%) when it comes to possessing presidential personality and leadership traits.
These findings mark a departure from comparable past data when candidates' personalities and leadership qualities were largely viewed in a more positive light. For example, when Â鶹´«Ã½AV asked the same question of six leading presidential contenders in November 2007, majorities of Americans thought that four of them -- Hillary Clinton (60%), Rudy Giuliani (59%), Barack Obama (56%) and John Edwards (51%) -- had the personality and leadership qualities a president should have.
The latest data, from an Oct. 14-31 poll, mark the fourth time since Trump took office that Â鶹´«Ã½AV has asked Americans if they agree that he has the personality and leadership qualities a president should. The earliest two measures, during his first summer in office, found that one-third of U.S. adults agreed, and this past April, that figure rose to 40%. The latest reading for the president is statistically unchanged from then and remains below those of his predecessors in the White House.
This is the first time Â鶹´«Ã½AV has asked this question about the three candidates for the Democratic nomination who are currently leading their party's field nationally.
Americans' Agreement With Candidates on Issues
Another question in the poll asks whether Americans agree with each of the four candidates on the issues that matter most to them. Again, Biden (46%) and Sanders (44%) edge out Trump (41%) and Warren (37%).
The latest reading for Trump is in line with the 2017 findings but is six percentage points lower than it was in April.
Independents' Ratings of Trump Low Compared With Biden, Sanders
As would be expected, candidates are viewed more positively by their own party's base. Yet, Republicans are more likely to say Trump has the personality and leadership qualities a president should have (83%) than are Democrats to say the same of Biden (74%), Warren (70%) and Sanders (65%). To a large degree, this reflects Republicans' unity around Trump as the almost certain 2020 GOP nominee, whereas Democrats still are forming their opinions of their leading presidential contenders and are not fully on board with any as they compete for the nomination.
Likewise, partisans are much more likely to agree with their own party's candidates' issues positions than with the opposing party's candidates' views. Nine in 10 Republicans say they agree with Trump's stances on the issues that matter most to them while about three-quarters of Democrats each agree with Biden's and Sanders' positions and two-thirds agree with Warren's.
| Republicans | Independents | Democrats | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Has personality/leadership qualities a president should | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Donald Trump | 83 | 30 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joe Biden | 17 | 51 | 74 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bernie Sanders | 10 | 50 | 65 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elizabeth Warren | 7 | 37 | 70 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agree with positions on the issues that matter most | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Donald Trump | 89 | 33 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joe Biden | 12 | 47 | 73 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bernie Sanders | 9 | 46 | 74 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elizabeth Warren | 4 | 38 | 66 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GALLUP, Oct. 14-31, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For their part, about half of independents think both Biden and Sanders have the personality and leadership qualities a president should have, but fewer say the same of Warren (37%) and Trump (30%). Independents also agree with Biden (47%) and Sanders (46%) on the issues more than they agree with Warren (38%) and Trump (33%).
Candidates' Favorability Ratings Are Mediocre
Since 1999, when Â鶹´«Ã½AV began measuring Trump's favorability rating, it has never been above 50% among all Americans. His current -18 net rating (the result of 41% viewing him favorably and 59% unfavorably) is about the same as it was during last winter's federal government shutdown. Although the three Democratic candidates have middling favorability ratings similar to Trump, their unfavorable ratings are lower. As a result, their net ratings are not nearly as poor as Trump's -- Sanders' is +1, Biden's is -2, and Warren's is -5.
These weak favorability ratings, though similar to 2015 readings for Trump and Hillary Clinton, are not consistent with previous elections when candidates had largely been viewed positively on balance, even if they weren't well-known.
Republicans' 91% favorable rating of Trump is much higher than Democrats' ratings of Sanders (76%), Biden (70%) and Warren (63%).
| Republicans | Independents | Democrats | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Donald Trump | 91 | 31 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Joe Biden | 15 | 43 | 70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bernie Sanders | 11 | 48 | 76 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elizabeth Warren | 8 | 35 | 63 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| GALLUP, Oct. 14-31, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Independents rate Sanders (48%) and Biden (43%) higher than Warren (35%) and Trump (31%).
Implications
Although Americans rate Biden and Sanders more positively than Trump for having presidential personality and leadership qualities, this does not necessarily portend lower voter support for Trump. Days before Trump won the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton held a 19-percentage-point advantage on this same measure. As was the case in 2016, the nation's sharply polarized political climate is affecting partisans' views more than in prior years, meaning no presidential candidate is viewed positively by all Americans.
Broad majorities of Republicans agree with Trump on the issues that matter most to them and think he has the personality and leadership qualities a president should have. Fewer Democrats hold the same views of their party's candidates. This is common as partisans' positive views of their own candidates are weaker before the party's nominee is chosen. As the head of his party and the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump benefits, but while the Democrats are vying for their party's nomination, their base is more divided.
Warren has the lowest favorability rating of the three Democratic candidates and more Democrats disagree with her positions on the issues than they do with either Biden or Sanders, even though Sanders' positions on many issues are similar to hers. Warren does, however, get higher ratings than Sanders from Democrats on having the personality and leadership qualities of a president.
View complete question responses and trends.
Learn more about public opinion metrics that matter for the 2020 presidential election at Â鶹´«Ã½AV's 2020 Presidential Election Center.
