A CNN/Opinion Research poll released Thursday, May 5 2011 found that of all probable or potential Republican candidates for the 2012 U.S. presidential race Donald Trump is the least desirable. Sixty-four per cent of adult Americans polled said they had an unfavorable opinion of Trump.
The former governor of Alaska, and a long-time potential candidate, Sarah Palin, was not far behind Trump as 59 per cent of respondents said they have a negative opinion of her. Palin, who ran with John McCain on the 2008 ticket as V.P., managed to get 35 per cent to say they had a favourable opinion of her; Trump had just 31 per cent view him favorably.
Donald Trump and Sarah Palin: Poor Poll Opinions
These numbers come upon the heels of a poll conducted by Quinnipiac University that also paints a dismal portrait of either of the potential presidential aspirants finding success in a race for the Oval Office. In that poll very nearly 60 per cent of the respondents said that they would not support either Trump or Palin no matter what the circumstances.
This most recent CNN/Opinion Research poll is out the same day Republican presidential debates for the 2012 run begin, though many potential candidates will not take part. The debate is in South Carolina where the first southern primary will take place next year. Neither Trump nor Palin will be there and the field of debaters does not include any favorites to win the G.O.P. nod.
Taking part will be Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Gary Johnson and Texan Ron Paul, who has twice ran for the Presidency, in 1988 for the Libertarian Party and in 2008 when he ran for and lost the Republican nomination. Other potential 2012 candidates not attending are Michelle Bachman, Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney.
Trump and Palin: Yet to Declare Intentions
Neitther Trump nor Palin have yet to declare if they will run for the nomination. Palin has toured the country for much of this year after releasing her book America By Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith and Flag, giving speeches but playing coy on whether she will enter the race.
Meanwhile Trump, a billionaire real-estate developer and host of the TV show "The Apprentice" was quoted by Bloomberg news May 1 as saying he had in fact made up his mind he will run for the nomination but was waiting until June to declare his intentions to the country.
In the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll the 1,034 adult American voters were questioned over the telephone between April 29-May 1; the poll is considered to have a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.
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