Rubio more favorable than Trump, Cruz combined

By Anna Giaritelli

Monday, February 29, 2016

A new poll shows that Marco Rubio is more favorably seen as a candidate than Donald Trump and Ted Cruz combined, and that the favorability ratings of the latter two candidates have slipped over the last few weeks.

According to a new Gallup poll, the net favorability rating of Trump is just 14 percent, down from 25 percent a month earlier. The self-funded billionaire has seen a consistent variation in his ratings from month to month, but February's numbers were the lowest his campaign has seen since the poll commenced last August.

A net 15 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning Independent voters polled Feb. 21-27 had a positive view of Cruz. The Texas senator has been on a downward plunge since his late January peak at 48 percent.

Their combined 29 percent falls short of the 34 percent net favorability rating that Rubio registered. However, Rubio's February score was one of his lower rankings since launching his campaign last summer. The Florida senator's ratings have remained consistently high, hovering around 40 percent in general and peaking at 50 percent in November.

The previous Republican debate on Feb. 25 likely influenced the public's opinion of the candidates. Political pundits said the 10th GOP debate, though only between five candidates, was one of the most attack-driven debates of the campaign season, and saw Rubio and Cruz repeatedly laying into Trump on his immigration views and practices.

Although Trump had the lowest favorability rating among the top three GOP contenders, he is ranked first in the Washington Examiner's presidential power rankings, followed by Cruz and Rubio, respectively. Trump also finished in first by a landslide in the latest state primary that took place in Nevada on Feb. 2.

The Gallup poll had a 4 percent margin of error