© REUTERS/Mikhail Metzel/Pool. Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) meets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton upon her arrival at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vladivostok September 8, 2012.
The poll, conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News, is a telling reflection of the 2016 presidential race. Results show that Putin came in with a fairly low 38 percent of respondents holding a "very negative" view of him. Hillary Clinton came in just ahead of the dictator with 41 percent, while the presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump came in with a total of 44 percent.
Comment: And interestingly, despite the continued demonization of Putin and all things Russian, his popularity continues to grow, while ratings have not improved for either of the U.S. scandal plagued candidates.
"Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would start the general election as the two most unpopular nominees in recent history, a title previously held by George H.W. Bush since 1992," wrote Aaron Zitner and Julia Wolfe in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday.
The poll found that voters were planning to engage in protest votes against their opposition's candidate, as opposed to simply supporting their preferred political party candidate. "There is no precedent for this in recent decades," said Zitner and Wolfe.
One interesting statistic found that Trump's popularity within the Republican party has been on the rise since he was declared the presumptive nominee. In the span of one month (from April to May), his positive views versus negative views rating within the party increased by a remarkable 33 percent, while Clinton's increased marginally from 42 to 43 percent.
For his part, Putin has usually been held in high regard by the Russian electorate. His approval ratings skyrocketed to 89 percent after Russian forces forcibly annexed Crimea. That said, a recent poll suggests he has been seen as less trustworthy recently. The Russian dictator took a ten-point drop in trustworthiness in 2016, with 73 percent of Russians seeing him as trustworthy.
Comment: Only 73%?? Obama would be thrilled to enjoy such a high rating: 8 years after Obama's 'hope and change', voters are angry and anxious.
Reader Comments