As the Ebola crisis draws national attention to Texas, Republican attitudes towards Rick Perry have improved significantly
With the hospitalization and death of the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States taking place in his state, Governor Rick Perry is once again visible in the national media. Republicans have rallied around him and his favorable ratings among Republicans jumped 16 points in this week's Economist/YouGov Poll compared to last week's.
In fact, the 67% favorable rating that Republicans now give Perry is on a par with the favorable ratings they give to former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Representative and former GOP Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan. 67% of Republicans this week have a favorable rating of Huckabee; 68% are favorable towards Ryan. However, other Republican possible candidates also fared well this week.
In August Perry also made national news, but that was because he was indicted for abuse of power. He vowed to fight the charges. The Economist/YouGov Polls conducted as the indictment was being handed down and in the immediate aftermath found Republicans rallying around him.
But that burst of GOP positives soon dissipated, and while a majority of Republicans continued to hold favorable views of the Governor, he scored lower than other potential GOP candidates, especially Huckabee and Ryan. Several other Republican potential candidates have also jumped in favorability.
However, throughout the year there has not been much of a change in the way Americans overall, not just Republicans, view Rick Perry. Nearly every week only a third of the public has reported a favorable view of him. More have an unfavorable opinion.
Full results can be found here.
Economist/YouGov poll archives can be found here.
