It pays to be a bit of a mystery to voters. Just ask House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
In the latest Rasmussen Reports favorability survey, the Californian beat out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and even House Democratic rabble-rouser Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
McCarthy had a 43% favorability rating, sky-high for any congressional leader. Just 35% had an unfavorable view.
But Rasmussen noted that he’s also not as well known, and maybe that worked in his favor. More than one-in-five checked “not sure” when asked their impression of him, the highest of the five in the survey.
McConnell was dead last, with a 29% positive favorability rating. He was edged by Schumer at 33%, Ocasio-Cortez at 34%, and Pelosi at 37%.
And while neither won the latest popularity contest, voters said that they wish House Democrats would be more like Pelosi than Ocasio-Cortez.
The pollster asked 1,000 likely voters, “Should Democrats in Congress be more like Nancy Pelosi or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?” Only younger voters chose AOC over Pelosi. Even liberals stuck with the longtime House leader from San Francisco.
Among all the voters polled, Pelosi was the pick, 31%-22%. A sizable 46% were not sure.
However, among Democrats, it was Pelosi, hands down, 44%-30%.
Of course, it said something about Ocasio-Cortez’s influence that Rasmussen included her in a favorability survey.
