Voters Give Mixed Marks to Biden, Boehner; Still Don't Like Pelosi
Vice President Joseph Biden and House Speaker John Boehner have received an increase in media attention for being at the center of the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, but voters have not changed their opinions of the two men. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remains the most disliked leader on Capitol Hill.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 43% of Likely Voters share a favorable opinion of Biden, while 48% have an unfavorable impression of him. These figures include 13% with a Very Favorable opinion of the Democratic former senator from Delaware and 25% who have a Very Unfavorable opinion of him. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The latest findings show no change from last month. Since February 2009, Biden’s favorable ratings have ranged from a low of 41% to a high of 56%. His unfavorable marks have ranged from 39% to 53% in that same time period.
Just 37% of voters have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Boehner, including 10% with a Very Favorable impression of him. Thirty-six percent (36%) have an unfavorable view of the Republican congressman from Ohio, including 14% who regard him Very Unfavorably. Another 26% are not sure.
The number of voters who see Boehner in a favorable light also shows no change from last month. As media coverage of Boehner increased following the Republican takeover of the House in the November elections, his favorable ratings climbed steadily to a high of 47% in March. Prior to November, Boehner's favorables had ranged from 21% to 32% since January 2009, but he was largely unknown to a sizable number of voters.
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters nationwide was conducted on June 28-29, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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