Americans’ views of Biden highest among Dem candidates: Gallup

Former Vice President Joe Biden remains the most popular Democratic presidential candidate among all Americans, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday. 

About 53 percent of all respondents view Biden favorably, while 35 percent have an unfavorable view. That favorability rating beats out all other Democratic presidential contenders, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who comes in second with 46 percent. 

{mosads}The survey, conducted in April, tested five other Democratic candidates. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) came in third place with 34 percent favorability, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), garnered a 32 percent favorability rating, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) both came in fifth with a 27 percent favorability rating, and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg came in last with 25 percent.

Biden and Sanders also lead the pack in their appeal to Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, getting a 74 percent and 75 percent favorability rating, respectively. They are followed by Warren with 58 percent, Harris with 55 percent, Booker with 45 percent, O’Rourke with 43 percent and Buttigieg with 41 percent. 

The Gallup poll, which was conducted after multiple women accused Biden of inappropriately touching them, suggests the allegations have not significantly hurt his appeal. About 56 percent of Americans had a favorable view of the former vice president in February, reflecting a 3-point drop to May that falls within the new poll’s margin of error. 

His favorability rating dropped with Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents by 6 points from February, edging down from 80 percent to 74 percent.

The Gallup survey reflects other polls consistently depicting Biden and Sanders as the crowded primary field’s top two contenders. As the two well-funded septuagenarians emerge from the pack, they have begun angling their appeals toward the party’s two flanks, with Biden adopting a more centrist tack while Sanders seeks to dominate the primary’s progressive lane.

The Gallup poll surveyed 1,024 adults, including 443 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents from April 17-30 and has margins of error of 4 percentage points and 6 percentage points, respectively.