Gallup on Thursday said that recent polling shows respondents’ views of former Vice President Joe Biden have slipped since he left office, but the overall numbers still remain high as he contemplates a 2020 White House bid.
More than half of those surveyed — 56 percent — have a favorable opinion about Biden, the pollsters found. Approximately 8 in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents view Biden positively. By comparison, almost 1 in 3 Republicans and Republican leaners view him favorably.
{mosads}The former vice president’s popularity peaked at 61 percent in January 2017, Gallup noted.
The polling giant said Biden’s high profile and overall popularity would arguably make him the presumptive front-runner in the 2020 field.
It noted that respondents had similar views of Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), who officially announced his second presidential candidacy last month. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of Sanders when Gallup last asked about it in September.
Gallup also noted that the unfavorable ratings of five other Democratic contenders — Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Kamala Harris (Calif.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) — exceed their favorable rating by between 2 and 8 percentage points in the new poll.
Sources close to Biden, 76, told The Hill earlier this month that the former vice president is almost certain to enter the race.
Last week, he said he was in the “final stages” of decisionmaking.
Gallup surveyed 1,932 adults between Feb. 12-28 for its latest poll. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.