In addition to his record-setting highly unfavorable rating, Trump’s overall image on the scalometer tilts more negatively than Goldwater’s did at his lowest point in 1964. Trump’s combined ratings are 42% favorable and 59% unfavorable whereas Goldwater’s broke about even at 43% favorable and 47% unfavorable. Clinton’s even division in favorability puts her ahead of Trump and Goldwater, but behind all other candidates back to 1956 in terms of their final pre-election ratings.
Clinton’s overall image on the scalometer — 51% favorable vs. 50% unfavorable — is also better than Trump’s and slightly more positive than Goldwater’s in October 1964. However, her ratings are no match for the Democratic incumbent in that year’s election. President Lyndon Johnson had extraordinarily high positive ratings on the scale, reflecting his strong popularity less than a year after he assumed the presidency following John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Johnson’s total favorable score at the end of the 1964 race was a stellar 81%, with just 13% viewing him unfavorably, and he went on to win re-election by a historically high 61% to 38% in the popular vote.
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