There’s a new poll out from Clemson University about the standing of presidential candidates in South Carolina. The pollsters asked whether people had heard of the candidate and, if so, whether they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of him. The candidate with the best combination of name recognition and favorable opinion: Rudy Giuliani. The candidate with highest name recognition and solidly high favorable opinion: John McCain. The candidate with the combination of high name recognition and relatively low favorable opinion: Newt Gingrich. Here’s what the survey found:
Candidate Heard of Favorable Unfavorable
John McCain 96% 65% 23%
Newt Gingrich 95% 53% 31%
Rudy Giuliani 93% 78% 10%
George Pataki 69% 35% 18%
Bill Frist 66% 43% 21%
Mitt Romney 40% 41% 11%
George Allen 37% 38% 11%
Mike Huckabee 16% – –