Just kidding, it’s not Kamala.
She does make the list, but to be the least popular person in DC she’d have to be located first.
The least popular figure in politics hails from West Virginia and draws scorn from both parties. Perhaps progressive Democrats, more than anyone, hate Joe Manchin with a deep, deep passion. They see him as the sole obstacle standing in the way of Biden’s presidency and progressive legislative victories.
According to a new poll from NBC News, it’s Manchin who takes the top spot as the least popular figure in politics followed by Mike Pence:
Sen. Joe Manchin is the least popular political figure in the new national NBC News poll, with just 11% of registered voters saying they had positive feelings about the West Virginia Democrat.
Roughly one-third of voters — 34%— had negative feelings, making Manchin the most unpopular figure in the poll with a net-negative rating of 23%.
Pence comes in second to Manchin and Kamala Harris comes in as the third least-liked person in politics which is odd considering she’s accomplished nothing and can barely string two sentences together.
Here’s the larger list from the NBC News poll:
- Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.: -6 points (28% positive, 34% negative)
- The U.S. Supreme Court: -7 points (35% positive, 42% negative)
- Joe Biden: -8 points (40% positive, 48% negative)
- The Republican Party: -15 points (34% positive, 49% negative)
- The Democratic Party: -17 points (34% positive, 51% negative)
- Donald Trump: -18 points (36% positive, 54% negative)
- Kamala Harris: -18 points (32% positive, 50% negative)
- Mike Pence: -19 points (25% positive, 44% negative)
- Manchin: -23 points (11% positive, 34% negative)
Disgust for Manchin isn’t reserved just for progressives, though, Republicans also share in dumping on the West Virginia Senator for a variety of reasons:
The disdain for Manchin spanned political parties, with 40% of Democrats, 31% of Republicans and 30% of independents viewing him negatively.
Manchin’s role as one of the roadblocks to Democrats’ sweeping policy agenda earned him the scorn of Democrats in both wings of the party.
More than one-third of Democrats who voted for President Joe Biden in the presidential primaries had negative views of Manchin, while 12% viewed him positively. Among Democrats who supported progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, 46% had negative feelings about Manchin while just 5% had positive feelings.
Republican disdain for Manchin probably comes partially from watching the Senator stand up to his party and then fold slowly over time.
For example, Manchin went well over a year blocking Biden’s spending bills on the grounds that they might make inflation worse only to cave and vote for something called the “Inflation Reduction Act” which **checks notes** might make inflation worse.
Mike Pence draws disgust from Democrats probably due to his association with Trump. Republicans also view him with ire as a turncoat now essentially campaigning against Trump in various midterm primaries around the country.
Manchin’s club is small but he seems to enjoy being the villain and the hero depending on the day. From the outside, it’s rather frustrating to watch him maneuver and calculate but he seems to revel in it.
Washington is full of unpopular figures, where does one even start?
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