Terminator, Darth Vader, And Shark From Jaws More Popular Than Candidates For President

Vader Palpatine 2016

Another poll shows that the candidate for the nation’s highest office are less popular than some of film’s greatest villains: 

Think about all the things you look for in a presidential candidate: a solid economic plan. Maybe some foreign policy experience. And how about insatiable bloodlust and multiple rows of serrated teeth?

As it turns out, the shark from the Jaws movies has better favorability numbers than any politician included in the latest Washington Post-ABC News survey. Ditto for The Terminator. Same for Darth Vader.

Here’s a chart based on recent polling:

Popularity Chart

Quite honestly, its completely understandable

 

FILED UNDER: 2016 Election, Public Opinion Polls, US Politics, ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Moosebreath says:

    I guess people are tired of voting for the lesser of two evils…

    That said, note how among the real people, 4 of the top 5 are Democrats, with only Rubio as the exception.

  2. Neil Hudelson says:

    This poll is silly. Vader lives in a galaxy both far away and long ago. He’s most likely dead by now. The terminator? Which one? People are probably voting for the Terminator from the second movie, forgetting how evil he was in the first. (There’s some sort of Bush joke in there).

    And a shark will have real trouble during the debates.

    So, really, you can probably discount those entries.

    It looks like it’s going to be a Rubio/Sanders match up.

  3. James Pearce says:

    In a survey I conducted amongst people in the breakroom, Stannis Baratheon is more popular than any of the candidates.

    @Neil Hudelson:

    Vader lives in a galaxy both far away and long ago. He’s most likely dead by now.

    From a certain point of view….

    Also, The Shark From Jaws….his name was Bruce.

  4. Neil Hudelson says:

    @Neil Hudelson: @James Pearce:

    Edit: I don’t know why I forgot the whole, you know, ending to The Return of the Jedi.

    Still, by now that shimmering green ghost of Anakin has to be kaput. It clearly has Benjamin Button disease, going from a chubby middle aged man, to a handsome 20 something who can’t act, over the course of just 2 decades.

  5. Tyrell says:

    Speaking of all these candidates, if you remember Lyndon LaRouche and Harold Stassen, you have been around a long time.

  6. Hal_10000 says:

    They should have polled Sideshow Bob I don’t agree with his Bart-killing policy, but I do approve of his Selma-killing policy.

  7. James Pearce says:

    @Neil Hudelson:

    It clearly has Benjamin Button disease, going from a chubby middle aged man, to a handsome 20 something who can’t act, over the course of just 2 decades.

    I always miss that part because as soon as I see the pyre, that’s my cue to start recreating the Yub-Nub song in my living room.

  8. gVOR08 says:

    The fun news here is that the Trump is far less popular than anyone else in the poll. I recall that years ago there was an Israeli President who hit 0% approval (in a small country you’d think he’d have enough friends and family to round up to 1%) but the Donald’s making it a race.

  9. michael reynolds says:

    People like a guy with a plan. Say what you will, Vader has a clear plan: rule the universe. Ditto the shark if you substitute the word “eat” for “rule.”

  10. Kari Q says:

    I think the shark has a real shot at this since he is the only one of the top three candidates who was actually born on this planet in this time frame. And I, for one, welcome our new piscine overlord.

  11. Neil Hudelson says:

    @Tyrell:

    LaRouche is still around, spreading his crazy. Or at least he was circa 2010.

  12. Grewgills says:

    Wasn’t Vader already vice president?

  13. Paludicola says:

    I suspect that to some extent, fictional villains rate as more popular than presidential candidates for the partly the same reasons the military rates as the most popular public institution. (N.b. Not meant to insult the military, but to insult civilian public conception of and relationship with it)