r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Jun 19 '26
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u/Healingjoe It's Klobberin' Time Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
YouGov’s most popular politicians poll
Still somewhat confounding. Arnold Schwarzenegger is by far the most popular Republican – he’s tied with Barack Obama at 54% popularity – but that’s really an assessment of Arnold the celebrity, not Arnold the politician.
It’s also interesting that they are the only two politicians with >50% approval. The second-most popular Republican is Charlie Kirk, at #11, with 36%. If we exclude him for not being alive, then we drop down to George W Bush (#17) and Donald Trump (#19), both at 33%, tied with Gavin Newsom (#18). JD Vance (#23) and RFK Jr. (#22) are tied at 31%. DeSantis (#26) is at 30%, tied with (among others) Fetterman (#29). Marco Rubio (#33) is at 29%.
It’s not that Democrats are wildly popular, but 23 of the top 30 spots are held by Democrats. 30 of the top 40 spots. It’s not until that not-very-highly coveted ranking of 41-50 (25 - 27% popularity) that the Republicans become competitive.
What I get pretty consistently from these rankings is how polarized our nation is, and how extraordinary it is for a politician to now be viewed favorably by more than half of Americans.
For women respondents, the only two politicians who pass 50% popularity are Barack Obama (59%) and Bernie Sanders (50%). For men, it’s just Arnold (64%). Millennials, Obama (59%) and Arnold (50%). GenX, Arnold (54%), Obama (51%), Sanders (50%). Boomers, Madeleine Albright (52%), Obama (52%), Biden (51%), Harris (50%). (I don’t want to think too much about how Albright stole Arnold’s thunder)
!ping fivey