NUMBERS, FACTS AND TRENDS SHAPING THE WORLD FOR RELEASE ...

FOR RELEASE JULY 07, 2016

NUMBERS, FACTS AND TRENDS SHAPING THE WORLD

FOR MEDIA OR OTHER INQUIRIES: Carroll Doherty, Director of Political Research Jocelyn Kiley, Associate Director, Research Bridget Johnson, Communications Associate 202.419.4372

RECOMMENDED CITATION: Pew Research Center, July, 2016, "2016 Campaign: Strong Interest, Widespread Dissatisfaction"

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

About Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It does not take policy positions. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research. The Center studies U.S. politics and policy; journalism and media; internet, science and technology; religion and public life; Hispanic trends; global attitudes and trends; and U.S. social and demographic trends. All of the Center's reports are available at . Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts, its primary funder. ? Pew Research Center 2016



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Table of Contents

Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Campaign engagement and interest .................................................................................................. 9 2. Voter general election preferences .................................................................................................. 17 3. Views of the campaign and the candidates ..................................................................................... 27 4. Top voting issues in 2016 election ................................................................................................... 31 5. Candidate traits and perceptions ..................................................................................................... 41 6. Hispanic voters and the 2016 election ............................................................................................ 49 7. Views of Barack Obama, the political parties, Congress and the nation's economy .................... 55 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... 63 Methodology........................................................................................................................................... 65 Appendix: Topline questionnaire........................................................................................................... 67



PEW RESEARCH CENTER

PEW RESEARCH CENTER

As Republicans and Democrats prepare for their party conventions later this month, a new national survey paints a bleak picture of voters' impressions of the presidential campaign and the choices they face in November.

Overall satisfaction with the choice of candidates is at its lowest point in two decades. Currently, fewer than half of registered voters in both parties ? 43% of Democrats and 40% of Republicans ? say they are satisfied with their choices for president.

Roughly four-in-ten voters (41%) say it is difficult to choose between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton because neither would make a good president ? as high as at any point since 2000. And just 11% say the choice is difficult because either would make a good chief executive, the lowest percentage during this period.

The presidential campaign is widely viewed as excessively negative and not focused on important issues. Just 27% of Americans say the campaign is "focused on important policy debates," which is seven points lower than in December, before the primaries began.

Yet dissatisfaction with the campaign and the candidates has done nothing to dampen voter interest in the 2016 election. Fully 80% of registered voters say they have given "quite a lot" of thought to the election, the highest share at this point in any campaign since 1992. Four years ago,

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