Poll: Biden tops possible 2020 Dems in favorability rating

Former Vice President Joe Biden has the best favorability rating among a group of leading potential Democratic presidential contenders, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed that 53 percent of respondents have a favorable view of Biden, compared with 33 percent who have an unfavorable view.

Biden is the only possible 2020 candidate in the poll who has a favorability rating better than 50 percent. 

Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, has the highest unfavorable score among the candidates, with 61 percent of respondents saying they view her negatively. 

{mosads}Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) are the only candidates other than Biden included in the poll whom more voters view favorably than unfavorably.

“For Democrats gearing up for 2020, it’s Biden and Bernie, with Beto looking for a foothold and Hillary wondering if the train has finally left the station,” Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a statement. 

The poll’s results are based on surveys of 1,147 voters, with a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

For Sanders, 44 percent of poll voters view him favorably and 42 percent view him unfavorably.

A majority of voters — 55 percent — said they don’t know enough to have formed an opinion about O’Rourke, who last month lost a Senate bid against Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). But of those who do, 24 percent view O’Rourke favorably and 20 percent view him unfavorably, the poll found. 

A wide majority of voters also don’t know much about Brown, with 77 percent saying they haven’t heard enough about him. Twelve percent of voters say they view him favorably and 9 percent say they view him unfavorably.

Democrats with net-negative favorability ratings include Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.).

Respondents were nearly split on Sen. Kamala Harris, another leading contender, with 20 percent saying they view her favorably and 22 percent viewing her unfavorably. The remaining voters said they don’t know enough about her to have an opinion.  

The poll also found that President Trump has a negative approval rating, with 56 percent of voters viewing him unfavorably and 40 percent viewing him favorably.