Republicans On Republican Politicians: 'Meh'

Quinnipiac is out with one of those "temperature" polls this morning, where respondents give a high temperature if they like a politician and a low one if they don't.

The poll finds that Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) is America's "hottest" politician. But the more interesting story within the poll is a partisan split: Democrats tend to have very warm feelings about their leaders, while Republicans say "meh."

52% of Democrats rate President Barack Obama at 81 degrees or higher; 45% give similarly high marks to Hillary Clinton, and 36% to Vice President Joe Biden.

Republicans are not so effusive. No Republican candidate gets "hot" ratings from even 20% of his party members. Rep. Paul Ryan (Wisc.) is the hottest politician in Republicans' eyes, and yet only 18% can bring themselves to rate him at 81 or higher.

Even Republican politicians who are supposed to be favorites of the Tea Party and conservative activists, like Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) and Ryan, are far more likely to get ratings from their fellow Republicans in the 61-80 range than 81-100.

That's not to say Republicans are incapable of strong opinions: 68% of them rate Obama below 20 degrees. But while they agree they hate the president, they can't seem to find anyone they really like.