Bernie Sanders tops poll for character and empathy, beats all his Democratic rivals and Donald Trump
Till recently, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders found himself tightly pitted against veteran candidates like Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden in the primary race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But after the 78-year-old did well in the twin battles of Iowa and New Hampshire earlier this month, his approval ratings have been steadily heading north. The battle at the moment looks to be more between Sanders and former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is leading the former by just one delegate.
But Sanders’ popularity has not been hit by the slender margin by which he is trailing. According to a survey undertaken by the USA Today/Ipsos on Saturday, February 15, Sanders does better than any of his Democratic rivals for the 2020 election as well as President Donald Trump who is a strong favorite in terms of values and personality traits.
When asked for their views on the candidates’ character, 40 percent of the respondents said they admired Sanders while only 26 percent gave their verdict in favor of the Republican heavyweight. In fact, other Democratic candidates like Biden (31 percent), Warren, Buttigieg (both 30 percent) and Michael Bloomberg (29 percent) also led the president.
When it came to familiarity, around four in 10 voters had no opinion on either Buttigieg or Bloomberg, said USA Today. While three in 10 said the same for Sanders, Biden and Warren.
Bloomberg has not yet contested the primaries and will join the fray only in the Super Tuesday contests of March 3. He will, however, feature in the ninth Democratic debate on Wednesday, February 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada, that will go to caucuses on Saturday, February 22.
On values and empathy, Sanders leads the rest
The poll also said that 39 percent of the voters believed that Sanders shared their values and he was doing nine points better than Biden and Buttigieg. Thirty-one percent said on the other hand that they shared values with Trump and Warren. For Bloomberg, the number was 28 percent.
On the question of empathy, suburban women were asked whether they were convinced that the 2020 candidates cared about them and 47 percent backed Sanders.
The survey, which included 1,005 adults between February 12 and 13, did not include Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar despite her finishing third in New Hampshire.