USA Today reports:

Is Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders likable enough to win the White House? A new USA TODAY/Ipsos poll released Friday suggests a lot of voters think so.

Asked for their views on the personal characteristics of several Democratic presidential contenders and of President Donald Trump, voters consistently gave Sanders the highest marks for his values and empathy.

Trump and his allies have long said they believe the president could easily defeat Sanders if he faces off against the Vermont senator in November. Some of Sanders’ Democratic rivals have suggested a more centrist candidate might have a better chance at taking on Trump.

But if character is on the ballot in November, the USA TODAY/Ipsos poll, conducted Wednesday through Thursday, shows Sanders has a clear advantage over the incumbent president. In the survey, 40% of voters said they admired Sanders’ character, well above the 26% who said they admired Trump. [Continue reading…]

A relevant and related question — although it’s not the kind pollsters ask — would be this:

In choosing who you’re going to vote for, are you going to be more influenced by a candidate’s political platform or your feelings about that individual as a person?

Granted, this is the kind of question to which a lot of people would give what they believed to be the “correct” answer, but an honest account would surely make it clear that elections are ultimately likeability contests. (Hence the irony of Hillary Clinton attacking Bernie Sanders by claiming no one likes him.)