Voter satisfaction with presidential candidates at lowest level in decades
As Republicans and Democrats prepared for their party conventions in June, our national survey painted a bleak picture of voters’ impressions of the presidential campaign and the choices they faced in November. Overall satisfaction with the candidates was at its lowest point in two decades and roughly four-in-ten voters told us it was difficult to choose between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton because neither would make a good president – as high as at any point since 2000. The presidential campaign was also widely viewed as excessively negative and not focused on important issues.
Voter satisfaction with presidential  | candidates at lowest level in decades  | % of registered voters who are very/fairly  | 53  | 6.1  | satisfied with the presidential candidates  | 40 43  | Republican/L.aan Rep 40%  | 40 43  | Democrat/Lean Dem 33%  | DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE  | CLINTON CLINTON  | GORE  | KERRY  | OBAMA OBAMA CLINTON  | REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE  | DOLE  | MCCAIN ROMNEY TRUMP  | BUSH  | BUSH  | BUSH  | INDEPENDENT CANDIDATE  | PEROT PEROT  | 1992  | 1996 2000  | 2004  | 2012  | 2016  | 2008  | Note: Based on registered voters 15-26, Q20.  | Source: Survey conducted registered June 15-26, 2016  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 