Poll-Watch: Majority of Voters Don't Know Joe Biden

Posted by AlterNet Staff, AlterNet at 11:00 AM on August 25, 2008.

These data are almost meaningless at this point in time, given that Joe Biden, despite long years in Congress, is just entering the glare of the presidential campaign spotlight for the first time. In fact, a slim majority of registered voters -- 51 percent -- say they've either never heard of him or don't know enough about him to have formed an opinion. Among those who are familiar with the Senator from Delaware, he has a 19-point net favorable rating.

Those results are similar to those of Joe Lieberman when Al Gore chose him as running mate in 2000:

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All of this will change as Biden gets out there on the stump, and of course when the vice presidential nominees debate.

In the meantime, Biden's addition to the ticket appears to have had a modest effect on voters' preferences...


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Gallup puts that data in historical context after the jump ...

This results in Biden potentially having a net positive impact on voter support for the Democratic ticket of +7 percentage points -- small by comparison with other recent vice presidential selections.

*A net 17% of nationwide registered voters said they were more likely to vote for John Kerry in 2004 on the basis of his selection of John Edwards as his running mate (24% more likely and 7% less likely).

*A net 12% of voters reported being more likely to vote for Al Gore in 2000 on account of his choosing Joe Lieberman (16% more likely and 4% less likely).

*A net 18% of voters indicated they were more likely to vote for Bob Dole in 1996 on the basis of his choice of Jack Kemp to complete the ticket (26% more likely and 8% less likely).

*A net 25% of voters were more likely to vote for Bill Clinton in 1992 on account of Al Gore (33% more likely and 8% less likely).

The only recent vice presidential choices to spark less voter reaction than Biden were Dick Cheney in 2000 (net 4%, with 14% more likely and 10% less likely) and Dan Quayle in 1988 (net score of 0, with 10% more likely and 10% less likely).

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