New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie is the "hottest politician" according to a recent Quinnipiac poll gauging the popularity of prominent politicians across the nation. At the top of the poll Christie was joined by Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and first term Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., according to Quinnipiac.
The thermometer poll is intended to show "voter attitudes toward the nation's major political figures" and can be thought of as an indicator of how potential 2016 presidential candidates are viewed by the public as a whole.
Pollsters asked people to rate how they feel about each politician on a scale of 0-100, the politicians temperature is the mean score of how people feel about them.
Christie and Clinton are the only two politicians that were rated with a temperature over 50 degrees with Christie topping the poll with 53.1 and Clinton just behind with 52.1.
"What is interesting is that only two of the 22 figures rate better than the absolute middle of the scare, not exactly a ringing endorsement of the nation's political establishment," Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said.
Coming off of a Congressional session where the legislative body passed a shockingly low number of bills it comes as little surprise that the four people at the bottom of the poll are the leaders of Congress. Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi scored 38.4 and was the leader of the four with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker of the House John Boehner right behind her. Bringing up the rear was Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., with a temperature of 33.8.
Among Republicans Christie scored a 59.8 which was good for eighth place behind many Republicans who might have their eyes on the White House including former vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. While Christie's popularity among independents and some Democrats would serve him well in a general election he may never get that opportunity.
"Christie's great strength is among independent voters, who give him 50.6 degrees of love, and Democrats, who give him 53.2 degrees," Brown said. "His rating on the Thermometer scale is a good indication of what may face him should he travel the 2016 campaign trail. His tougher problem may be winning the GOP nomination because in most states only registered Republicans are able to vote in party primaries."
While Christie has some crossover appeal with Democrats Clinton does not enjoy the same status with Republicans. Although when you compare her score of 31.6 to the 18.2 put up by President Barack Obama things don't look that bad for Clinton. Among independents Clinton finds herself in the middle of the pack with a score of 44.2. Among Democrats Clinton scored a whopping 77.7, the highest score by far.
