Candidates disliked, viewed as dishonest

WASHINGTON — Americans have negative views of both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump. He comes off as a little worse.

In a new Associated Press-GfK poll, she’s viewed as more qualified, civil and compassionate than Trump, but voters are somewhat more likely to view her as corrupt.

But even on her biggest weaknesses, Trump fails to do much better in polling. Both candidates are widely viewed as dishonest.

Things to know about Americans’ views of the presidential candidates:

DISLIKED, DISHONEST

Both Trump and Clinton are widely disliked by majorities of registered voters, but negative feelings about Trump outpace those for Clinton, 61 percent to 56 percent.

More also say their unfavorable opinion of Trump is a strong one than say the same of Clinton, 50 percent to 44 percent.

Twenty-six percent of Republican registered voters have an unfavorable opinion of their party’s nominee, while 21 percent of Democratic voters have an unfavorable opinion of theirs.

Only 27 percent of Americans say Clinton is at least somewhat honest, while 53 percent say she’s not honest at all. Trump performs marginally better on that measure, with 32 percent saying he’s very or somewhat honest and 49 percent not at all honest.

Nearly half of voters —49 percent — say Clinton is at least somewhat corrupt, while 43 percent say the same of Trump.

CLINTON MORE QUALIFIED, CIVIL

Despite voters’ negative feelings for both candidates, there are relative bright spots for the former secretary of state, who is seen as more qualified, civil and compassionate than Trump.

Fifty-three percent call Clinton at least somewhat qualified, while just 30 percent say Trump is.

Just 42 percent say Clinton is at least somewhat compassionate, but Trump fares worse, at 25 percent. About half call each nominee at least somewhat decisive.

Fifty percent of voters call Clinton at least somewhat civil. Just 24 percent say the same of Trump, and even among his own supporters 42 percent say that word describes him only slightly or not at all well. Half of voters say Trump is at least somewhat racist, while only a third say that word doesn’t apply to him at all.

JOHNSON, STEIN STILL UNKNOWN

Americans still don’t know much about Libertarian Gary Johnson or Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Six in 10 registered voters say they don’t know enough about Johnson to form an opinion, while 7 in 10 say the same about Stein. For both, that’s an improvement in name recognition since July.

Voters who do have an opinion on Johnson are split, with 17 percent giving him a favorable rating and 21 percent an unfavorable one. Views of Stein are more negative than positive, 19 percent to 9 percent.

Both the Democratic and Republican vice presidential nominees are also largely unknown. Twenty-nine percent of registered voters have a favorable and 27 percent have an unfavorable opinion of Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, with 44 percent saying they don’t know enough about him to say. More than half of voters — 52 percent — say they don’t know enough about Clinton’s running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, while 27 percent have a favorable opinion and 20 percent an unfavorable one.

ANGER, FEAR, NO EXCITEMENT

Both candidates inspire mostly negative emotions, but American voters are particularly anxious about the Republican.

Only 29 percent of registered voters would be excited and 24 percent would be proud if Trump is elected president, while nearly half (46 percent) would be angry. Perhaps most crucially, 56 percent of voters say they would be afraid.

Clinton elicits somewhat less negative emotions but also relatively little enthusiasm. Only 30 percent say they’d be excited if she’s elected and 32 percent that they’d be proud. And large minorities say they’d be angry (38 percent) or afraid (44 percent).

Three-quarters of voters say opposition to the other candidate is a major reason for supporting his or her foe.

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