McCain, Giuliani top GOP favorable ratings

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — More Michigan residents have a favorable opinion of Republican presidential candidates John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani so far than they do of Mitt Romney, according to a poll released Friday by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA.

Fifty-nine percent of the 600 likely voters surveyed statewide said they had a favorable opinion of McCain, while 55 percent said the same of Giuliani and 38 percent said that of Romney.

The poll, conducted Jan. 31 through Feb. 8, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points and sampled voters of all political stripes, not just Republicans.

Romney's lower numbers might be attributable in part to the fact that he's the least known of the top three GOP contenders, even though his father was governor of Michigan from 1963-69. Nineteen percent didn't recognize his name, while McCain and Giuliani's names were recognized by all but 3 percent.

Twenty-six percent of those polled had an unfavorable opinion of McCain and Giuliani, while 18 percent had an unfavorable opinion of Romney. Twelve percent were undecided about McCain, 16 percent about Giuliani and 32 percent about Romney.

On the Democratic side, 50 percent had a favorable opinion of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, while 45 percent had an unfavorable opinion and 5 percent were undecided.

Eleven percent didn't recognize the name of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. But among those who did, 47 percent had a favorable opinion, 18 percent had an unfavorable opinion and 24 percent were undecided.