Edwards Among Top 10 Most Popular People In National Politics

HAMDEN, Conn. — Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards is among the top 10 most popular people in national politics -- along with former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, according to a national poll released Monday by Quinnipiac University.

Giuliani, a Republican who is considered a possible candidate for president in 2008, edged out U.Obama, D-Ill., U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rice.

The Quinnipiac poll asked voters to rate politicians on a scale of 0 to 100, with higher numbers representing more favorable opinions. Giuliani's mean score was 63.5, according to the poll.

Obama averaged 59.9, McCain 59.7 and Rice 57.1.

"Not only do Mayor Giuliani and Sen. McCain get the best ratings, but their numbers are uniform across the country," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

President Bush's average rating was 44.1 and Vice President Dick Cheney's was 41.

Four Democrats who are considered potential presidential candidates were also mentioned in the poll's top 10: Edwards received a 50.8 average, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner scored 50.7, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton averaged 50.4 and Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin scored 49.

The telephone poll of 1,892 registered voters nationwide was conducted February 21-28 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.