Republican candidates better known than liked: Gallup

The Republican field of 2016 U. S. presidential candidates is shaping up to be one of the most crowded in history, and some are better known than liked among Republicans, according to a Gallup poll released Friday.

The Republican presidential field, already 16 candidates strong and brimming with controversy, features a large number of contenders who are familiar to Republicans nationwide, with billionaire real estate icon Donald Trump leading as the best- known candidate, at 92 percent.

The best-known candidates, Trump and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, however, are not the best-liked, Gallup found.

While Trump is probably the most heavily covered Republican candidate at the moment and certainly the most well-known, he is hardly running against a cast of anonymous or unknown rivals.

Besides Trump, three other candidates are familiar to at least 70 percent of self-identified Republicans, meaning Republicans know enough about the candidate to give him or her a "favorable" or "unfavorable" rating: Jeb Bush, at 81 percent, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, at 73 percent, and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, at 72, according to Gallup.

Ben Carson, a surgeon whom half of Republicans are familiar with, nonetheless enjoys a net favorability -- the difference between a candidate's favorable and unfavorable ratings -- of +40, among the highest of all the candidates.

A growing number of candidates are in the "sweet spot" of public opinion, meaning they are comparatively well-known among the Republican base as well as comparatively well-liked. Florida Senator Marco Rubio has a +42 net favorability, slightly better than Carson's, and 64 percent of Republicans are familiar with him, Gallup found.

These findings are a reminder of the importance of campaigning; the best-known, best-liked Republican candidates also happen to be, in many instances, the ones who have been campaigning the longest, Gallup said.

Two candidates known for their "better to be feared than loved" style of interacting, Trump and Christie, find themselves in the unwelcome position of being well-known, but comparatively less well-liked.

Trump's name recognition is nearly universal, but his net favorability is below average, at +20. Given the state of affairs of his contentious campaign, it is hard to foresee his favorable rating rising by a substantial share.

For Christie's part, the two-term governor has about as many Republican admirers, at 39 percent, as detractors, at 33 percent, Gallup found. Endite