Despite leading GOP pack, Trump's ratings not so great: Gallup

Despite topping the list of U.S. Republican presidential candidates, billionaire mogul Donald Trump's ratings are not particularly high two weeks after the first debate that kicked off the race for the White House, according to a Gallup poll released Friday

The bombastic Trump has been basking in media limelight in recent months, overshadowing Republican Party (GOP) establishment candidates such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and even drawing more press attention than Democratic front-runner Hilary Clinton, who is running for her party's nomination.

But Trump, a controversial candidate for his bombast and utter lack of political correctness, has a net favorability rating of +17 among Republicans, slightly below average, and one that trails Bush by 10 points, the poll shows.

That lackluster number comes from the fact that while his favorability rating is 55 percent, lots of people also don't like him much, with a 38 percent unfavorable rating, according to Gallup. Net favorability is calculated by subtracting a candidate's unfavorability rate from their favorability rate, and paints a more nuanced portrait of a candidate.

In Trump's case, a certain fan base of mostly conservatives believes the candidate is a fresh voice that represents them better than the establishment and thinks current leaders are doing nothing as the country goes down the drain, while a large chunk of Republicans dislike the candidate.

This comes at a time when the GOP is trying to revamp its image among single women and minorities and lose its image of a party made up of older white males. It also comes amid a historic shift in demographics, as whites will no longer comprise the majority of Americans in the decades to come, and the party knows it needs to diversify to survive.

Indeed, Trump has been accused of racism and xenophobia for his controversial plan to erect a massive wall on the U.S.-Mexican border to keep out the massive inflow of illegal migrants, and the GOP establishment frets such a stance will not help them in America's new multi-cultural landscape. He has also made comments accusing some illegal migrants of being hard core criminals.

Trump's situation is perhaps the most fascinating of any GOP candidate. He has over 90 percent name identification among Republicans and is the major focus of news coverage and social media discussion about the Republican nomination process, Gallup found.

What Trump's high unfavorable ratings will mean down the line remains to be seen. Trump's upside potential may be more limited than, say, that of Florida Senator Marco Rubio -- who is less well-known but at this point has almost the same favorability ratings as Trump among Republicans, but with a third of Trump's unfavorable ratings, Gallup found.

The fact that many Republicans have an unfavorable opinion of Trump is a possible indicator that there are lurking negatives about his candidacy that could spread to other rank-and-file Republicans who now are favorable toward him. Of course, it may also be that those who now have a negative opinion of the business mogul could turn positive as the campaign progresses, Gallup said.

The next major event on the Republican campaign trail will be the CNN-sponsored debate at the Reagan Presidential Library in California on Sept. 16. Endi