Rosie's back, but she's not popular

July 23, 2014, 9:20 AM GMT+0

Most Americans have an unfavorable opinion of Rosie O'Donnell, though Democrats do tend to like her, especially compared to Elisabeth Hasselbeck

ABC's 'The View' is going through a major period of reconstruction. Main host Barbara Walters has retired and Jenny McCarthy and Sherri Shepherd are on the way out, meaning that when the show returns in the fall Whoopi Goldberg will be the only familiar face. The new cast won't be entirely untested, however, as Rosie O'Donnell is set to return to The View. Her on air fights with conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck ensured high ratings for the show as viewers tuned in to watch the two clash. The most spectacular of the fights was in 2007, when the two traded personal barbs over the Iraq War, leading to O'Donnell's abrupt departure from the show.

The latest research from YouGov shows that out of the most recent members of The View, Rosie O'Donnell is the only one where opinions tend to be unfavorable (54%) rather than favorable (35%). Barbara Walters (61%) and Whoopi Goldberg (58%) have the highest favorability ratings and Sherri Shepherd (29%) has the lowest.

In a head to head with Elisabeth Hasselbeck, however, Rosie O'Donnell doesn't perform too badly. 35% of the public say that they prefer O'Donnell to Hasselbeck, and 36% say that they prefer Hasselbeck. Democrats are much more likely to say they prefer Rosie O'Donnell, while Republicans are much more likely to choose Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Independents narrowly choose Hasselbeck (37%) over O'Donnell (32%).

Full poll results can be found here.