HIGH POINT, N.C., April 6, 2012 – The most recent HPU Poll findings shed light on how North Carolina residents feel about presidential candidates. North Carolinians as a whole do not feel particularly warm toward any candidate, but President Barack Obama appears to have an advantage over his rivals when N.C. residents were asked to rate him on a series of personal characteristics.Feeling ThermometersRespondents were asked to rate Obama and each of the Republican candidates for president on a 0 – 100 “feeling thermometer” scale. Ratings between 50 degrees and 100 degrees mean that a respondent feels favorable and warm toward the person. Ratings between 0 degrees and 50 degrees mean that a respondent does not feel favorable toward the person and that they don’t care too much for that person. Residents were asked to rate the person at the 50 degree mark if they don’t feel particularly warm or cold toward the person. (Full question wordings and data for Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are also available from the HPU Poll at src.highpoint.edu)Barack Obama – 48 degrees Mitt Romney – 44 degreesRick Santorum – 43 degreesAttributesResidents were also asked to describe how well four attributes – Strong Leader, Inspiring, Compassionate and Intelligent – describe the presidential candidates. In your opinion, how well does the phrase [INSERT PHRASE] describe each of them? Would you say: extremely well, quite well, not too well or not well at all? (Names were presented in random order and also included Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.)Strong Leader Barack Obama Extremely well/Quite well – 50 percent Not too well/not well at all – 46 percent Don’t know/Refused – 4 percentMitt Romney Extremely well/Quite well – 43 percent Not too well/not well at all – 45 percent Don’t know/Refused – 12 percentRick Santorum Extremely well/Quite well – 35 percent Not too well/not well at all – 49 percent Don’t know/Refused – 16 percentInspiringBarack Obama Extremely well/Quite well – 47 percent Not too well/not well at all – 49 percent Don’t know/Refused – 4 percent
Mitt Romney Extremely well/Quite well – 34 percent Not too well/not well at all – 56 percent Don’t know/Refused – 10 percent
Rick Santorum Extremely well/Quite well – 33 percent Not too well/not well at all – 52 percent Don’t know/Refused – 15 percentCompassionateBarack Obama Extremely well/Quite well – 61 percent Not too well/not well at all – 34 percent Don’t know/Refused – 6 percentMitt Romney Extremely well/Quite well – 41 percent Not too well/not well at all – 45 percent Don’t know/Refused – 14 percentRick Santorum Extremely well/Quite well – 44 percent Not too well/not well at all – 40 percent Don’t know/Refused – 16 percentIntelligentBarack Obama Extremely well/Quite well – 75 percent Not too well/not well at all – 22 percent Don’t know/Refused – 3 percentMitt Romney Extremely well/Quite well – 65 percent Not too well/not well at all – 25 percent Don’t know/Refused – 10 percentRick Santorum Extremely well/Quite well – 58 percent Not too well/not well at all – 25 percent Don’t know/Refused – 14 percent”Although President Obama’s job approval rating, which the HPU Poll has shown to be hovering in the low 40s, is not particularly high, he does relatively well compared to his political rivals on these personal attributes,” said Sadie Leder, assistant director of the HPU Poll. “Voters use a variety of different criteria to make their final voting decisions. These personal characteristics will play a role in how some people choose our next president.”The High Point University Survey Research Center fielded the survey from March 19-22 and March 24-29. The responses came from 507 adults with landline and cellular telephones in North Carolina selected by a Random Digit Dial (RDD) method giving the survey a margin of sampling error of approximately 4.4 percentage points. For smaller subsamples the margin of sampling error is larger. In addition to sampling error, factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional error into the findings of opinion polls.Further results and methodological details from the survey and can be found at the Survey Research Center website, http://src.highpoint.edu/, or from Dr. Martin Kifer, the center’s director, at [email protected] or 336-841-9333.You can follow the HPU Poll on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SurveyResearchCenter and Twitter at http://twitter.com/HPUSurveyCenter.At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.℠ HPU, located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, is a liberal arts institution with over 4,200 undergraduate and graduate students at campuses in High Point and Winston-Salem. It is ranked by US News and World Report at No. 3 among Regional Colleges in the South. Parade Magazine lists HPU in the top 25 private schools in the nation. HPU was selected in the 2010-2011 list of “Colleges of Distinction,” as well as one of the top green schools in the country by the Sierra Club. The university offers 44 undergraduate majors, 40 undergraduate minors and 10 graduate degree programs. It is a member of the NCAA, Division I and the Big South Conference. Visit High Point University on the Web at highpoint.edu.# # # Pam Haynes
Communication Specialist
336-841-9055
[email protected]