No Enthusiasm for Hillary or The Donald in New Polling

By Dan Spencer | 8:00 PM on June 26, 2016

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Recent polling finds voters aren’t excited about either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. A new Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram poll finds that Maine residents aren’t too enthusiastic about either leading presidential candidate. And a CNN/ORC Poll released June 21, 2016 finds that fewer than 30 percent would be excited by a Trump or Clinton presidency.

The Maine poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, found Hillary leads Trump 42percent to 35 percent. Fifty-seven percent of likely voters have an unfavorable view of Hillary and 62 percent have an unfavorable view of The Donald and nearly 20 percent of respondents say they’ll vote for someone other than the ever unpopular Democrat and Republican presumptive nominees.

According to Andrew Smith, director of the UNH Survey Center says the two candidates unpopularity is historic:

These are the two most unpopular candidates to have ever run for president, at least going back for as long as there has been polling. You never see them both underwater like this.

Even though 74 percent of Republicans say they will vote for Trump and same number of Democrats say they will vote for Clinton, Smith said “voter antipathy toward Clinton on the Democratic side is as bad as it is toward Trump on the Republican side.”

The findings of the Maine poll are similar to the CNN poll findings. Both candidates continue to be plagued by mediocre favorability ratings — with both viewed unfavorably by nearly 60 percent of voters. According to CNN Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta, more respondents would be afraid if Trump won than if Hillary did (56% to 46%). Similarly, more respondents would be embarrassed if Trump won (56% to 39%).

The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram Poll was conducted on June 15-21, 2016 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent for all adults and plus or minus 4.5 percent points for likely voters. The CNN/ORC Poll was conducted June 16-19 2016 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.