When Inconvenient Truth was released in 2006, Gallup polling showed that less than a majority of Americans had a favorable view of Al Gore. Yet just following his Nobel Prize win at the end of 2007, Gallup polling showed that this favorability rating had jumped to 58%. Call it the "Nobel bounce."
A recently released Pew survey shows that Gore's approval rating continues to hover just over the majority mark at 53%. Notably, in Pew tracking, as shown above, Gore has gained 11% in the "very favorable" category among Dems and 19% in the "very favorable" category among the college educated. However, despite an overall 5% gain among Republicans, his favorability rating still registers at less than a third of Republicans (29%), suggesting again that as the WE campaign recognizes, spokespeople other than Gore are needed if his climate change message is going to break through beyond the left-leaning Democratic base.
To put the Gore ratings in context, consider that the Pew survey finds that Condi Rice enjoys a 66% favorability, Defense Secretary Robert Gates registers a 62%, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates scores a 69%.
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I figured a number in the 50's was respectable until I read the other figures for comparison. People must actually hate Gore a lot if he has lower rankings than Condi and both Gates. Those numbers are quite surprising considering the supposed 'green revolution' that is catching fire in the US. No wonder he couldn't beat Bush--something about him just doesn't sit right with a good bit of the public.
Posted by: Nick | May 20, 2008 10:05 AM